CracKing, the First
by SapphireShelle91
Summary: No matter what he does, he can't seem be able to get her out of his head. He's tried everything; avoiding & ignoring her, calling her only by her last name and simply being a Jerk to her. But nothing has worked. Why?  Michael POV of Book 1.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Yes, yes, I understand that this has been done time and time again, writing book one from PD from Michael's POV, but I can promise you that this will be completely different to however you might have read the others. But I'll be explaining all that at the end of this fic, read it if you wish or not, I don't mind.

**Disclaimer:** Ok obviously I am not Meg Cabot... If I was I would have simply written PD as First Person not in Diary form but then that would miss the whole point of the series, but anyway. I am also not the owner of any reference to TV shows, movies or songs (or whatever else I slam in here, games so on) that I might be putting into this fic. Some references will probably be obvious while others, I'll mark as a reference or quote.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.

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><p><strong>CracKing, the First<strong>

**Chapter One**

You know you're really bored when you start listening in on your three year young, completely obnoxious little sister's conversation with her best friend.

Which is exactly what I am doing right now; listening in on my three year younger, completely obnoxious and insane little sister conversation with her best friend of way too many years (in my opinion. No, seriously I don't know how she puts up with her.).

I shouldn't be listening and not for the reasons you might think, you know what with the whole eavesdropping on people's conversations are bad, though with psychoanalyst for parents, we're actually encouraged to do so. Eavesdrop on other people's conversation I mean. It's supposed to help us to understand different people or some sort of crap like that.

Personally I just find it rude and irritating and I'll happily beat anyone I catch eavesdropping on my conversation with my notebook.

But anyway, sometimes I just get bored, like we all do and I was kind of curious to know what this conversation between these two was about, even though I really shouldn't be listening because that involves listening to _her_ and that is something that I'm trying _really _hard not to do at the moment…

"Mr. Gianni's cool."

What Lil? I mean, yeah he is. He's a pretty funny guy, but why is Lilly saying so? I must have missed something, but then I am actually trying not to listen and am only doing so because I'm bored.

Yeah, real great start to the school year Moscovitz! Twenty-four days in and you're already bored. On the bright side I've managed not to do anything particularly stupid in these past twenty-four days that would suggest to anyone that my feelings towards my little sister's best friend are anything other than those of an older brother.

Fuck this is hard and I've just missed completely what she said…crap, oh wait, wasn't that the idea? Why do I have to be so bored? Why does she have to be in this class?

Oh, right because she's flunking Algebra which is what Mr G teaches… is that why Lilly is calling him cool? To try and convince her that flunking Algebra isn't so bad? No, it looks to be a bit more than that, but she's speaking in such a low voice, a complete contrast to Lilly's, that I can't hear what is being said…

Ok, now I'm really confused. What the hell is Lil now on about? And _her_ face is going so red, it's kinda cu… Crap!

"Tell her you don't want her going out with him." Wait, what? Whose going out with who now? "I don't understand you, Mia. You're always going around, lying about how you feel." And she isn't the only one, but what feelings has she got to lie about? She's fourteen years old! A freshman! A kid… crap! "Why don't you assert yourself for a change? Your feelings have worth, you know." Thanks Lil… oh, wait she's talking to _her_, not me, but sometimes I seriously have to wonder if my little sister doesn't have mind reading abilities. Though, if she did, I'd probably be dead by now as she would not take too kindly to my own feelings towards a certain person.

Ye-ah, I am so going to burn in a very special level of Hell. A level they reserved for child molesters and people who talk in the theatre (1)… Yeah, I need to get a life!

Well there's the bell!

I shut down my laptop, slung my backpack on to my back and made my way for the door, though not before I unlocked the supply closet where we've been locking this new Russian kid. He is supposed to be this musical genius… and ok, I say supposedly because the only stuff he plays on his violin is Stravinsky. Like the only thing! Which is fine for like… a minute. After hour? Yeah, then it starts to grate on your nerves and makes you just want to smash the stupid thing over his head, musical genius or no.

"Ah, thanks." He squeaks once I let him out.

I just shrugged at him and said you're welcome. I didn't bother to mention that if he played something other than Stravinsky, he might not end up being locked in the supply closet but I'm almost afraid to because you never know what the alternative might be with this kid.

I was the last person to leave the room, closing the door behind me because Mrs Hill won't be back anytime soon from the teacher's lounge to close it herself.

I was half way to my Trig class when I saw her being shoved to the side by Lana Weinburger, causing all the books she was carrying in her arms (Why didn't she put them in her bag?), to topple to the corridor floor.

No, Moscovitz, don't…

Oh fuck it.

I strode over to where she was kneeling on the floor trying to pick up all her things and shoving them furiously into her bag.

"Hey, easy." I said, picking up a book that didn't quite look like a school book. It had no title on its front and it just… didn't look like a school book.

She looked up at me weirdly, like she couldn't quite believe that I was helping her, which is stupid because why wouldn't I? Oh, right… I hadn't be, achem, exactly the warmest of people towards her of late.

But I have a really good reason for that. A very good reason, in fact, but I can't exactly tell her what it is. Actually I can't tell anyone what it is. So now my whole family thinks I'm being a jerk to her all of sudden for no particular reason other than I'm just being a jerk towards her.

Damn, why couldn't she have come here next year… wait, then she would be thirteen… ah, crap! I can't win!

"Here." I said, handing her the notebook and oddly her face went this really bright red colour. It was kinda cu… Never mind, though I can't help but wonder why. Was it her diary or something? That's new. I didn't know she kept a diary. She never did before to my knowledge, not that I've been spending all that much time with her of late.

_Yeah, but you still don't wear a shirt when she's around_ _at home_, a voice in the back of my head pointed out which I pointedly ignored.

"Thanks." She mumbled, taking it, snatching it more like, back from me and shoved it quickly into her 'SAVE THE WHALES' backpack.

And then she just left, just like that! No 'bye' or anything. Though when was the last time I had said 'bye' to her… come to think of when was the last time I said anything to her… that wasn't a teasing remark… um, um, um…oh god, she must hate me.

Argh! How much longer can I keep this up? I mean, what does it matter anyway? I mean, it's not so uncommon for a senior to date a freshman. I mean, bloody Josh freaking Richter is dating a freshman! So why can't I?

Because she also happens to be your sister best friend, and she known you since she was like six years old which means she could simply view you as an older brother or some really, really annoying person who teases her and acts like a jerk towards her most of the time.

Well, there are a few reasons why I can't just go up to her and say 'Hey Thermopolis, you want to go out sometime?'

Those and the fact that over the last couple of months I have forced myself religiously to call her (both out loud and in my head) 'Thermopolis' her last name as opposed to her first name 'Mia'.

Why you may ask? Because this way… I have no flipping idea. Originally it was one of my bizarre methods of trying to stop myself from liking her so much, but… it hasn't worked. At all. In fact, I think it's just made it worse.

Fantastic!

Crap, I'm late for class!

Not that Patterson is going to care much. He'll be too busy tell off Backstreet Boy Clone and his cronies off to pay much notice to me.

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><p>(1) TV series <em>Firefly <em>created by Joss Whedon, episode six 'Our Mrs. Reynolds'

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> How I'm planning on writing this fic:  
>Firstly this will be written in First Person, but <em>not<em> in diary form (if anyone is having trouble keeping up with what day we are on, just let me know and I will post little notices or something at the beginning of each chapter or make references as to page numbers that I have gotten the text used in a chapter from.).  
>Secondly, I am making him a sound a little older than how I've read him previously in other fics and more like how I've pictured him to sound in the books (as I am an older reader, I do picture him as I see other guys my age. I'm nineteen). He still be seventeen, I'm just giving him the maturity that <em>I<em> read him to have while reading the books. Basically I'm doing the same thing as I did with Josh in my **_To Catch a Princess_** fic, just giving him a little more depth and a greater understanding of the character. Actually to tell the truth, I'm writing this more for my own benfit than anything else, like with my Josh fanfic (Which will have some elements from it playing into this fic, so if you want to give that a read, you can get kind of two sides of a coin)  
>Thirdly I'll be setting the year of this fic as being in September of 2003. I know that that conflicts with when Buffy ended (Which was May 20 2003) and other things but I'm trying to work within the time line that Meg has given us. For example; in Book 10 child are squealling over Penguins crying out "Happy Feet" (Happy Feet came out in America in November of 2006) and in book 10 it's May, so I'm guessing that Mia is turning 18 in 2007, meaning that Mia was 14 in 2003. And then there is also the whole iPhones coming out and so on. See, I have thought about this. So it's 2003 in my fanfic. Not that I'm actually (at least I don't thing) going to be referencing to much else that happens in 2003, but I'm just putting that out there.<br>And fourthly, there will be swearing and some minor sexual references, nothing too major but just letting you know ahead.

Ok that enough of my ranting. Thank you for all reading and reviews are much loved and appreciated.  
>Thank you.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Thermopolis came over today and I discovered what she and Lilly were talking about yesterday in G&T. Thermopolis Mom has a date with Mr G and Thermopolis was none to happy about it.

I found this out via my parents. Not that they directly told me, no, I overheard them trying to psychoanalyse Thermopolis (they're fourth favourite person to psychoanalyse after each other and us, Lilly and me, their two children. Mia is, in their books, basically their third kid; the nice one, the one who doesn't cause them any trouble and is moderately normal, unlike their two biological freaks. Yes, Lil and I feel the love.). I swear that psychoanalysing people is more than just a job for my parents; it's like their favourite past time.

Lil and I, when we were younger deduced that the reason our parents actually got married, was not so much because they loved each other but more that they thought that they would have twice the fun of psychoanalysing people if there was two of them so as to compare and discuss their discoveries.

Anyway, I was overhearing my completely unsubtle parents asking question after question, working their way up to the one that they're obviously been dying to ask the moment Thermopolis walked through our front door.

It's rather sad, really, just how desperate they've become to psychoanalyse someone at home since Lil and I had figured out our system to keep our privacy safe and secure. The Don't ask, Don't tell system and it's been working a dream!

Though it has now left Thermopolis to their mercy, but come on, we have to put up with them twenty-four seven, question after question after question… argh! It'd drive anyone mad! God, I can't wait for college next year!

Anyway, I was walking out to kitchen where my parents were still working their non-so-subtle way of getting the answer to their question out of Thermopolis. She was playing boggle with Lilly and I'm guessing was loosing pretty badly, if her little pout was anything to go by… ah, crap. Don't look at her mouth; focus on annoying, over-bearing parents.

Good, right, wait… what did Mom just say?

"Mia, how do you feel about your mother starting to date your algebra teacher?" Wait, what? Mr G asked Helen Thermopolis out on a date! Wow, he has gut, especially after what I heard happen to Helen's last boyfriend after she found out he was a Republican. She apparently she just dumped him right in the middle of their after she found and walked out of the restaurant without looking back. Which is rather cold, especially since Helen (even though she is Thermopolis mom and I have no interest in older woman), she really is hot. Every time Felix sees her, he goes kind of ga-ga and you can't get a straight word out of him until she's out of eye sight. But hey, good luck to him! Mr G, not Felix because that's just wrong.

"I feel fine about it." Yeah, right Thermopolis. That's why you look like you're going to be sick. No, seriously she was so green in the face, that it was so obvious that she was lying, that I couldn't help but start laughing because seriously she looked so damn cu…

Every head in the kitchen spun in my direction, where I stood in the doorway to the kitchen. Ah crap!

"Your Mom is dating Frank Gianini? HA! HA! HA!" Oh yeah, I am so going to hell for this. My parents looked at me all disapprovingly like, well Mom at least did, Dad looked more kind of curious. Guess he was wondering why I was acting like such a jerk all of sudden. Don't worry, Dad, I'm wondering the exact same thing.

Lilly looks ready to kick me and Thermopolis looks like _I've_ kicked her! Great, just great…

"Please, Michael," she started out in this real squeaky voice that she only ever uses when she is seriously freaking out over something. This whole Mom dating her teacher thing is obviously causing her more issues than I originally thought. "Please, don't tell anyone." Yeah, like I was going to. Who the heck was I going to tell who was actually going to care? No one! Ok, maybe possibly Felix but like I'm going to tell him.

But it is kind of cute seeing her beg… going to special level of hell now! But even though I'm thinking this, it still doesn't stop me from saying.

"What'll you do for me, huh, Thermopolis? What'll you do for me?" for a moment she looks completely and utterly confused, like she is actually trying to think of things that she could actually do for me. But then she just starts frowning about something before offering to walk Pavlov and empty out Mom's Tab cans back to Gristedes for the deposit money (which is further proof that she has been Lil friend for way, way too long. I mean, what normal friend actually offers do stuff like that? What normal friend actually knows about the whole emptying your mother tab cans back to Gristedes for deposit money? None of my friends! Definitely not Felix whom I've known since the sixth grade and have been friend with for almost as long as Lilly and Mia have been friends!)

I gave up after that. I mean seriously, what the hell had I thought I would gain from this little exercise? Beside making Thermopolis go bright red.

"Forget it, ok, Thermopolis." I sort of growl, before stalking back to my room though not before I heard Thermopolis asking Lil what she had done that had made me so mad and my darling sister simply replied that I had been sexually harassing her.

Lovely! Great, thanks Lil. And all I bloody wanted was a bowl of cereal.

The parental unit went out a bit after this, before Thermopolis had gone home, but I decided since the parental unit was gone and the girls had moved to the den, I was now free to get my bowl of cereal without hassle. I serious don't want to be bombard by my parents in the demand to explain myself for my rude behaviour towards their favourite child.

I was walking past the den with my bowl of cereal. I could hear Star Wars playing and no matter what my mood I might have been in previously Star Wars always makes me smile… well the original do, not those new ones; the Phantom Head Case and the Attack of the Digital Affects!

Anyway, I was leaning again the Den's entrance, out of sight to the girl. I couldn't see the screen from where I was standing but I could still hear what was happening and I've watched them so many times, that I can close my eyes and still see what is happening.

"You don't think he'll tell, do you?" I open one eye at the sound of Thermopolis voice. "Your brother? About my mom and Mr G?" I hear Lil give a snort.

"Nah. Seriously don't worry about it. I told you before, for Michael to tell anyone about it, he'd actually need someone to tell and he has no friends, so, hence he has no one to tell." Thanks a lot Lil. And you've met Felix too, though that hadn't been the brightest of ideas due to Felix leaving my house with a close to broken ankle from one of Darling sister charming kicks.

"I don't get it though."

"Get what? Why your mom is dating Mr G or why my brother social life is non-existent." Lil replied in this bored tone. Lil isn't a huge Star Wars fan anymore; don't ask me why or how, she just doesn't enjoy it anymore, so for them to be watching it must mean that Thermopolis really is upset about her mom and Mr G.

"No, not that." Thermopolis started, she sounded like she was losing her nerve about whatever she was trying to say.

"Mia, spit it out." Lil growl in frustration.

"I don't understand why he is being so mean to me all of a sudden." Thermopolis literally spitted out. She had to repeat herself so that Lil and I, from where I was eavesdropping, could hear. I, admittedly, felt a little winded.

"Is that seriously bothering you?"

There was no reply, but I was guess that Thermopolis was nodding because Lil, in and this is a rare thing for her, a gentle voice and said. "It's fine. It's just a phase. He's been like that with everyone, its not just you, so don't worry about." Which is a complete lie because I haven't been acting like this with everyone, I've been acting normal with everyone else, it just _her_ that I've been a jerk towards.

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's just being a big dope. Ignore him and he'll get over whatever it is that making him so jerky." God, hope so Lil.

I went back to my room after overhearing that little conversation. Star Wars for once not making me feel better.

I felt all churned up in the gut at what I had overheard, or rather the tones that I had heard the conversation being spoken in, in particulars, Thermopolis.

She actually sounded genuinely hurt by my… jerkiness towards her. I hadn't exactly thought that my behaviour towards her was actually hurting her feelings, I was just… I smacked the back of my head against my headboard, groaning. Dammit, I hadn't wanted to hurt her!

About an hour later, I heard Lil say bye to Thermopolis and the front door closing behind her before, unsurprising, actually I had been expecting it, the pounding of Lilly's fist upon my bedroom door.

"Open up, you Dope."

"If I say no, are you still going to break the door down?" I called back even though I was already up and off my bed and walking in the jaws of death that goes by the name of Lilly Moscovitz.

I open my door and looked down at my extremely short sister; it really is surprising at times that we actually come from the same gene pool.

"Why are you such an arse?" Lil snarled angrily up at me.

I shrugged, because seriously I was not about to explain my problems to her.

"Look, I don't care if you're an arse to everyone else outside this family or even an arse towards me, but leave Mia alone. She doesn't need your crap, what with all her other issues."

"She's fourteen years old, what issues could she possible have?" she kicked me for that one.

"Just leave her alone and stop perving on her. Seriously, go find someone your own age, you paedophile" I just gagged at her, what the fuck? Which is exactly what I said to her.

"What?" she said sounding suddenly defensive. "Isn't Mia good enough in your books to perv on? What, only blondes with big boobs do for you?" What the fuck? Which I repeated to her again though I failed to mention that Thermopolis was a blonde too, I didn't think that would sit too well with her, what with the mood that she was currently in. How the heck do I get in these situation? Seriously?

"Lil," I started, trying to remain calm, "what the fuck are you on about?"

"Nothing," she said suddenly smiling this really bright, freaky smile up at me. I hate it when she does that, "I'm just messing with you. And, ok, trying to figure out if your gay, but details."

I gagged at her again. "Gay? I'm not gay? Who thinks I'm gay?" God, did Thermopolis think I was batting for the other team?

"No one." Lilly said, patting my arm. "I just wanted to check that's all. You know, what with the fact that your last girlfriend was, hmm, what the seventh grade?" She eyed me searching as if waiting to see if I let anything slip as to my sexual preference. "And not to mention the fact that you've been kind of a jerk of later, so I was thinking that maybe you were acting out because you realised you were…"

"Lil, I'm not gay." I interrupted her quickly, "I'm just haven't been interested in dating." She kept giving me this searching look that caused me to groan, "Would you believe me and leave me alone if I said I just haven't found the right girl for me yet?" God, it sounds like I'm waiting for my flipping soul mate or something.

"Actually," she said slowly, "I would because you're weird like that. Ok, so good luck with that, whatever side of the bed you find your right "one" on." I'm seriously going to kill her one of these days, "but while your at," I looked back at her. Just go away already, I begged silently, god where the heck is the Force when you need it? "Stay away from Mia and stop being such a jerk towards her." The warning look was very clear and I felt like she had grabbed inside of me and had pulled out all my insides.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

But I managed to keep my features under control as I promised (ok I admit it, I did cross my fingers behind my back when I did.), that I would stay "away" from Mia in my search to find my "right" _girl_. Then I closed my door in her face.

Fuck I hate my life!

I hate my life! I hate my life! I hate my life!

I hate my life! I hate my life! I hate my life!

I hate my life! I hate my life! I hate my life!

Pavlov, my sheltie, just howl with agreence with me, though it might have also something to do with Lilly's insanely loud music. Oh great, Destiny's Child, now I just know she's doing this to piss me off.

I hate my life! I hate my life! I hate my life!


	3. Chapter 3

****Author's Note:****This was a lot of fun to write, like a lot. I think I spent most of my time while writing this, giggling, especially when I was writing the end of it. This chapter has Michael, Lil's and Mia's 'Who-would-you-choose...' game in it and it was... heheheh, I love writing from Mike POV, he's so fun to mess with.

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

I managed to stay away from Thermopolis for a whole week. It wasn't exactly hard considering she is only in one of my classes, G & T, which really can't be considered a class what with the fact that most of us most of the time just do whatever the hell we want.

I'm suppose to used this class to work on my online webzine, _Crackhead_, but I'm usually finished my monthly issues for it in two-three classes that for the rest of the month I have nothing to do but program new games during class… and trying not to spy on my little sister best friend.

I'm gonna be honest here and say _trying_, note that trying as being emphasised please, not to spy on her.

Ok, I'm not spying on her so much as just; I don't know, watching her… which sounds just as bad.

Oh the bright side at least no one else, especially her, haven't noticed my wondering eyes, or rather the spot where eyes seem to continually wonder too.

Why does this have to be so hard? And why her, of all people, why her!

But I can't help it. Watching her, I mean. Especially when she has that worried look that she's been wearing basically all week, she's been either constantly gnawing on her bottom lip or on her finger nails (it's amazing that she has any nail left on any of them, what with how much she bites), especially these last two days.

Today she looked like she had swallowed a sock. From what I can gather it's got something to do with her Dad.

Apparently he's in town for awhile and get this, he's given Thermopolis a Limo to be driven around in.

She picked up Lilly in it this morning. Me, I took the subway as usual, but anyway.

Thermopolis has been acting all weird since he first arrived, apparently he had cancer (which I had actually known about previously due to her coming over to our apartment in a complete mess after she first heard that he had cancer and threw herself on to the closest person to her as soon as she came in the front door, which so happened to be me, as I was the one who opened the door. I think she came close to dying of embarrassment after she finally let go of me, after three hours of sobbing hysterically while Lil tried to calm her down and find out what the heck had happen. The last time we had seen her in a state like this was when her cat eat that infamous sock. Anyway, she didn't look me in the face for about three weeks and when she did she went bright red and bolted from the room. Yeah, did wonders for my confidence) and now he's got this whole issue about being infertile or something, according to Lilly. I don't know, I kind of tune out. Sometimes my little sister just goes into a little too much detail about these sorts of things.

But anyway, apparently Thermopolis has been crying.

I heard them arguing about it in G&T, Lil trying to discover what Thermopolis's Dad had done to make her cry. Thermopolis simply keeps saying that it is nothing, though it is so obvious that it isn't. Nothing, I mean. I don't think I've ever seen Thermopolis so worked up and high strung.

Lilly says that she's acting like a head-case, which I think is a bit harsh considering Thermopolis really does look upset about something and I think whatever it is, it is a big deal for her and I don't think that Lil is going about the right way of making her feel better… or the right way of getting information out of her either.

But at least she seems to be trying to make up for that tonight; the pair of them are in my parents room, curled up in their bed, watching a James Bond marathon with a huge vat of popcorn, smothered with enough butter that my parents will happily kill them if they let any of it go on to the bedspread.

They actually looked pretty cute, the last time I checked on them, all curled up and munching away at the popcorn. I left them to it, since Thermopolis still looked a little down, more than a little.

Her coming over tonight was a little bit of a surprise. I mean, she does normally come over on either Friday or Saturday night, but we had been under the impressed that she would be coming over tomorrow night not tonight, hence why my parents have gone out tonight instead of staying in like they usually do whenever Thermopolis stays over, mainly because Lil only tries her wilder of ideas when Thermopolis is around, so that they can keep an eye on them, since Thermopolis can't say 'no' to Lil (or anyone else really), even to save her life, and they might need saving from whatever cocky idea they've (Lil) come up with.

Clearing she hadn't originally thought that she was coming over tonight either, as she brought none of her usual sleepover stuff with her, though since she does come over so often and does occasionally come over for the day and end up staying the night, she does have spare pair of PJ's and toothbrush here… see what I mean about them two being friends for way too long? This might as well be Thermopolis's second house!

Anyway, after we had eaten dinner (a vegetarian lasagne that Maya picked up from Baldeucci because Lilly rang ahead to let her know that Mia was coming over.), I left the girls to it, only checking on them once (after Maya had left) to make sure they weren't destroying Mom and Dad's bedcovers in the process of them eating their way threw that huge vat of popcorn.

I could occasionally, from my room, hear them laughing. Lilly's loud and at times slightly nasal laughter and Thermopolis's far quieter but still quite distinct laugh that sounded like a bell chiming. Seriously, I'm not kidding, that's how her laugh sounds, I swear.

It was distracting, hearing her laugh.

It is almost intoxicating that even as I sat there at my computer trying to think up some respectable, at least not insulting replies to some rather ridiculous (I mean, seriously why do people keep asking me whether or not I'm Gay? Do I give off that impression or something?) fan-mail that I receive because of my zine, I can't help but start grinning when I hear her laughing.

I gave up trying to answer my fan-mail once the clock on my computer informed me that it was eleven.

Stretching, I logged off and shut down my computer, only to immediately have the phone ringing.

Who the heck was ringing at this hour? No one who obviously knew my parents, everyone who does knows that they throw a fit if anyone calls after eleven.

Frowning, I got up to answer it, knowing that the girls wouldn't, too enthralled they were in the James Bond marathon.

"Hello? Moscovitz residence, Michael speaking." Ok, I admit I did answer in a somewhat cold tone, but hey I've been brought up with the 'anyone-who-calls-after-eleven-is-extremely-rude' rule and so with that in mind, I made myself sound even less than inviting. Pity was, it was Thermopolis's Dad who was calling. And to say he sounded annoyed is something of an understatement.

"No need to used that tone of voice when I've been trying to get through for the last six hours." He snapped his French accent and not to mention his annoyance at having been trying to get through for six hours made his words a little hard to understand.

I should have probably clicked on to the French accent that the caller had and figured it was most likely Thermopolis's Dad, but truthfully the possibility hadn't even occurred to me, so my tone was even less than polite.

"Well, I beg your pardon, but I don't believe that you have the right number or you would have known that my parents don't answer the phone after eleven."

"She did mention that." I heard him mutter, "But what about the last six hours?" he demanded.

I felt my temper flare; I didn't need to tell some random, rude French guy why he hadn't been able to get through for the last six hours. It was none of his business.

"Phillipe? Is it Michael? He's probably been on the internet; they only have one phone line." I heard a female voice say distantly from other end of the line. Wait what? How did the woman on the other side of the line know my name? I started to panic then, what if this was one of my parent's colleagues… or possibly one of their more stable of patients… or less stable.

"How can someone possibly be on the internet for six hours?" I heard the Phillipe-person demanded.

"It's rather easy," I said now feeling overly cautious. "Um, do you mind my asking who's calling and why?"

"What?" I heard the guy sound rather taken aback, "Oh, I'm sorry. This is Mia's father speaking and I was wondering if it would be possible if I could have a word with her." I felt like gagging at this moment.

Thermopolis's father? Thermopolis's father was calling our apartment and for the last six hours! What the fuck?

"Um, I'll just go and see if she's… Yeah, I'll go and get her." I felt a little weak at the knees. And more than a little annoyed, I'll admit. That was not what I wanted for my first impression to her Dad to be like. Now, he is probably thinking I'm some bratty, stuck-up jerk or something.

I stalked into my parents' room, where both my sister and Thermopolis looked at me as if I was nutz for answering the phone.

"Thermopolis, your Dad is on the phone." I said in an even less charming voice than the one I had used while speaking with her father.

I possibly should have told her a little more gently because the moment 'dad' left my lips, she looked like she was about to be sick, like she was seriously about to throw-up, and seeing as the thing she was most likely going throw-up on was Mom and Dad's bedspread, I thought better than to push it. So with a little sigh, I said, "Ok, don't worry about it, Thermopolis. I'll tell him you and Lilly already went to bed." Which is a lie that I know Thermopolis's mom would so not believe, but I was kind of hoping that Thermopolis's dad might not know his daughter quite as well as Helen did. I just hoped that Helen Thermopolis wasn't near by the phone when I told him because if she was then to come to the phone demanding to speak with Thermopolis, I would most definitely drag Thermopolis out here to talk to her mother because seriously Helen Thermopolis can be scary when she wants to be. However, if she wasn't near the phone or she was just too tired to care and let the whole thing slide, I don't know but when I picked up the phone again and told Thermopolis's father that Thermopolis was already asleep, her dad just started to apologize, maybe going slightly over-board with it, for calling so late and he'd speak with her tomorrow.

We hung up after that and I went back to my parents' room to report what her Dad had said. Thermopolis still looked like she was going to be sick.

She just looked so miserable, like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, I don't know why though, because her Dad, once he got over his crankiness, seems like a fairly nice bloke, but then I've had like one phone call conversation with him…

I whistled for Pavlov, who had originally been sleeping soundly on my bed, and he immediately came trotting into Mom and Dad's bedroom, though albeit a little cautiously, he knows as well as Lilly and I do, that he's not allowed in here but he got over that pretty quick when he saw Thermopolis and I made it clear that yes, he could get up on the bed with Lilly and her. Which he did, happily and immediately crawled into Thermopolis's lap, licking her face eagerly. Which for him is rather impressive, since he isn't an overly big fan of people, even members of our own family (say like Lilly), but with Thermopolis, he just becomes this completely different dog.

If he could, he'd stay by her side the whole time that she is over here. I swear the dog loves her more than he loves me and I'm the ones who feeds him, takes him for walks and so on.

But I guess it is rather sweet, especially when she's giggling like that and smiling.

"You're getting dog slobber all over your face." Lilly pointed out after like five minutes, in which I had sat myself down on Mom and Dad's bed right by Thermopolis feet.

Thermopolis just shrugged and kept on patting Pavlov, who looks just about ready to keel over with happiness. He has all the luck. Yet, before I could get too jealous of the attention my dog was receiving and also lavishing back in return, Lil asked me, in the interest of science (interest of science my ass!) which Bond girls are more attractive to me, the blondes who always need James Bond to come and rescue them or the brunettes who are always pulling guns on him.

I sort of stared at her for a moment, with a 'are-you-serious' look. Oh, right, she's still trying to figure out whether or not I'm gay.

So rolling my eyes I told her that I couldn't resist a woman with a woman, even though my "favourite" warrior woman is in fact, blonde.

Thermopolis sort of looked at me oddly for a moment over Pavlov's head before asking, I think out pure curiosity, if it was the end of the world and I had to repopulate the planet but I could only have one life mate (and I was going to have more than one because…?), who would it be, Xena or Buffy?

Now I just stared at her for a moment. I mean, seriously who thinks up a question like that? But she looked so curious.

So with a shrug and telling her that she extremely weird for thinking something like that up, I chose Buffy.

And that's how our post-nuclear Armageddon life partner game started. It was actually kind of interesting in a way, I got to find out which actor's Thermopolis liked and disliked and why.

I was actually having maybe a little too much fun because without thinking about it, I asked both girls "who would you choose, Harrison Ford or Josh Richter?" and as soon as the question left my mouth, my stomach just sunk. Because I knew the answer to this, everyone who goes to our school knows the answer for this and I had to be the idiot to go and ask it, even though I really didn't want to know the answer… I also really did.

I watch her face intently as Lil answered that she choose Harrison Ford because he was a carpenter and if the world ended he could build her house, which is actually fair enough.

"Josh Richter." Of course she would say his name, of course she would. I felt like smacking my head against the nearest wall. "Because he'll live long and can help me with the kids." Great, so she wants to procreate with him now too! Yeah, my foul mood came back with a vengeance by this point. And me in a foul mood usually means I'll pick a fight with the thing that has put me in the foul mood aka Thermopolis… and Lil to a lesser extent.

"In the face of a nuclear Armageddon, he would only show himself to be a coward. He'd only think about saving his own skin, while leaving you to die." Which ok, is a little harsh and she looked extremely offended, so any ticks I might have gotten in her books with the whole telling her Dad that she was asleep so she wouldn't have to talk to him and having Pavlov sit with her, had basically been obliterated with what I had just said about Josh Richter.

Great, just great. Lilly didn't help either. She said that fear of new things is not an accurate measure of one's potential for growth and of course, Thermopolis agreed.

"You're both idiots!" I informed them, furious that they too had fallen under the charm of Josh Richter!

I had hoped that Lilly would have the sense not to and in doing so would stop Thermopolis, but obviously not! For god sakes!

"If you two think that Josh Richter will give either of you the time of day, then you are both out of your minds. He likes girls like that scatter-brains cheerleader girl he's got latched on to him at the moment. He only likes girls who put out." They both sort of just blinked at me for a moment before Lilly went off on this declaration that she would happily put out for Josh Richter (Over my dead body!) as long as he met her conditions and I seriously can not believe she has actually thought about this (she's freaking fourteen years old!), and in depth too. And then then happily proceeds to tell her older brother, who is basically ready to snap Josh bloody Richter freaking neck and her extremely embarrassed best friend, whose gone so red, I was momentarily distracted from my 'must-kill-Josh-freaking-Richter-soon' mission to wonder in her face was about to explode, about them.

Which, her conditions that is (I can't get them out of my head nor the mental images. Thanks Lil. No, seriously, thanks a lot!) are; that he has to bath before hand in an anti-bacterial solution (which I will swap with acid), and wearing three condoms coated spermicidal fluid during the act, in case one breaks and the other slips off (which I will coat with acid. I'm not a bitter, angry person. I swear). But… What the hell is she doing thinking about those sort of thing! Seriously…

I mean, yeah ok, yes she is being sensible, but…. Argh! She shouldn't be thinking about these things and I by hell shouldn't being knowing that she does think about these things! I'm her flipping brother for God's sake! I can't be knowing these sorts things about my little sister!

And being the guy who doesn't want to be knowing these things regarding these two girls, what do I go and do next? I ask Thermopolis if she'll put out for Backstreet Boy Clone? Why do I torture myself, so? Seriously?

Oh the bright side at least she took the time to think about her answer, unlike Lil who had one all lined up and proceeded to scar me for life with it!

She answered sort of slowly, like she was still thinking over her conditions.

"Well, um, I guess we'd have to be dating for about a year. He had to have pledge his undying love for me." These two conditions seemed pretty reasonable to me and made me think 'hey, I could do that', that is until I heard her last condition; "he takes me to see _Beauty and the Beast_ on Broadway and didn't make fun of it." Even Lilly gave a snort of laughter at that.

"The first two sound fine," I said trying to stop my own laughter because I could tell I was just pissing her off again, "but if the third one is the example of the kind of boyfriend you want, you're going to be staying a virgin a long, long time."

"Why?" she asked in this really cranky voice, like she seriously disagreed with me.

"Because I don't know any guy with an ounce of testosterone who could watch _Beauty and the Beast_ on Broadway without projectile vomit everywhere."

She opened her mouth to further argue with me about this but then Lil interrupted with her with another question.

"Who would you choose, Mia or Josh's girlfriend Lana Weinberger?" I stared at my sister for a moment but saw nothing but her usual curiosity in her face so, I said with a shrug.

"Mia, of course." Which I should have known would have opened up a whole new wave of question from Lil.

I glanced back at Thermopolis but she wasn't looking at us anymore but rather at Pavlov, scratching him behind the ears and under his chin so that his back leg kicked out, thumping me against my back, while Lil kept hitting me with these would you choose Mia or questions. Which were hard because I could only say Mia so many times or bring on my sister's unwavering curiosity and possibly cause her to become suspicious? So I was careful about who I chose her over.

She won hands down against Madonna, but I had to choose Buffy when Lilly paired Mia's name with hers or Lil really would know something was up.

Every time I just wanted to choose Mia though and did so in my head.

I think Lilly got bored of me and my answers because she suddenly turned her attention to Thermopolis, who I think simply zoned out during our bit of the game and asked.

"Mia?" Thermopolis looked up, a little startled.

"Hmm?" I should have guessed what was about to happen by the evil grin on Lil's face when she asked.

"Mia, would you choose Josh Richter or," she took this big, dramatic breath, another thing that should have clued me on what she was about say, or rather whose name she was going to option with Josh's. But being the big dope that I am, I didn't pick up on the clues and was rather impatient for her to finish the question, "or Michael."

It took me several moments to click that it was me, Michael, that she meant. And I almost fell off the bed.

I mean, did I really want to know the answer to this one? I mean, I already knew she'd choose Josh over Harrison Ford, so what chance did I have?

Thermopolis eyes got really wide and her mouth sort of hung open as she stared a Lilly.

"Um…" her brows came forward and her face was pulled into a frown, as if she was seriously thinking it over. "Um, I guess I would choose…"

And of course, just my luck that is exactly when out parents came home, yelling at us immediately for the popcorn and Pavlov being in their room and on their bed.

We vacated their room fairly fast after that (after we had cleared up all the popcorn and Pavlov had been coaxed out Thermopolis's lap so that she could get up. He really didn't want to leave, damn dog!), though I did happen to notice the relieved look on Thermopolis's face when Mom and Dad busted all of us in their room, which I couldn't tell if that was good thing or not.

God, let it me, at least in her head, let it be me.

Special level of hell, here I come.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Thank you for reading and comments are much loved and appreciated


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

I left home this for the astrophysics lecture that was being held today at Columbia (the college I am desperately want to get into and hopefully on early decision too) before the girls had even stirred.

I stuck my head in to check on them, just because Mom and Dad were still asleep and probably still a little mad at them for last night and I just wanted to make sure that they were ok, that neither of them had been feeling sick during the night. Or rather Thermopolis hadn't been sick during the night and hadn't told anyone because she doesn't want to worry us or something like that.

Every time that she has been sick while she has been over here, she has kept it to herself until she is basically falling over because she has a fever of 99.9. It's happened, I know, I was there. Though come to think of it her having a fever isn't always bad thing, I mean… right yeah not thinking about that.

Anyway, it appeared that they (she) were both fine and were sleeping soundly. My sister all sprawled out on her bed while Thermopolis was curled up in this tight little ball on the camper bed. It really is amazing how someone so tall could make herself so small.

You know, despite my determination to not think about her, I seem to still think of her a lot. Like wondering if she'll still be at home when I got back from the lecture and if she was, what would she being doing.

Also bugging me was what the heck her damn answer to Lil's last question was. I mean, I know that it was just a stupid game but I seriously want to know. I desperately wanted to know if she chose Josh Richter over me and why!

I spent the whole lecture just sitting there torturing myself over that stupid game, trying to figure out if I really had stuff up my chances of being chosen because of my attitude towards her these last few… months…

….

I felt like smacking my head upon the seat in front of me.

"Well that was interesting." Judith was babbling excitedly beside me as we left Columbia's campus.

"What?" I asked looking at her blankly.

"Jude, he wasn't listening." Paul, a mutual friend of both Judith and me, said laughing.

I scowled at him. I had been hoping no one had noticed.

"Why not?" Judith demanded looking both annoyed and outraged, neither emotions I could understand nor why they were directed with such volume towards me. Who cared if I hadn't been giving the lecture a 100 per cent of my attention? I had already read about most of the stuff that was spoken about in the lecture and the stuff I missed, well there is such a thing called the internet or books if I'm really desperate.

"I'm tired." I said simply wishing to get rid of these two as soon as possible, in particular, Judith.

"Why? Haven't you been sleeping well or something?" she asked sounding all concern like.

I gave her a weird look.

Why did she all of sudden care?

She never used. She used to find me frustrating and spent a great deal of her time yelling at me because I wasn't performing some Treasury duty for the Computer Club or I had beaten her in some test which I hadn't exactly put 100 per cent studying time into.

That's the problem with people like me and to a lesser extent Josh Richter; we don't study for exams and yet we still come top of the class, while people like Judith work their asses off twenty-four/seven and then proceed to come only second or third in the class.

I personally wouldn't blame her if she hated me with every fibre of her body because if I was in her situation, I probably would.

But I can't help it. I hear what's being said in class, I do a bit of my own research about it and then it's just there, filed away in my brain until I need to regurgitate on to an exam paper or in an assignment.

The only subject that I can whole-heartily say I study for is Maths and that's just because I like doing Maths.

"I'm fine." I said with a shrug. "Lil and her friend," I tried not to pull a face as I called her simply 'friend', "and they…" Judith interrupted me with a knowing nod.

"I understand completely." Though I don't know how she could as she is an only child and to my knowledge most of her friends are guys. "Girls at that age can be a rather loud." She said grinning.

I just stared at her before finally shaking my head. What I was going to say was that they had been watching James Bond and I had join them and we all hadn't gone to bed until almost two o'clock, but fine whatever.

"Is your sister still friends with that tall, shy kid that used to be like your shadow a few years back?" Paul asked curiously.

"Yeah, she is. Wait, what you do mean she used to follow me around like a shadow, she wasn't my shadow." I snapped at him in annoyance which only caused him to laugh.

"Huh? What?" Judith said looking confused, but grinning as well.

"It's nothing." I started buy Paul interrupted me.

"Michael sister has this friend, Amelia…"

"Mia." I corrected him dully.

"Right, Mia and she used to follow Michael around everywhere. It was rather cute actually. She was a really sweet kid, unlike…" he looked at me with a grin. In which I simply rolled my eyes in response to.

It not exactly small knowledge, already she has gained a reputation for herself at AEHS, that Lil is a humongous pain in the ass when she wants to be, which is basically all the time.

"That's so sweet." Judith said laughing lightly. "She doesn't do it anymore?" she asked me curiously.

"She's fourteen years old." I said feeling completely exasperated.

"That doesn't stop Lana Weinberger from being Josh's little shadow." Paul said, sniggering. I scowled even more darkly at him.

"Don't go comparing her to Weinberger. They're completely different people. Thermopolis has more self-respect than to throw herself on to a guy like _him_." I snapped venomously. Judith and Paul just looked at each other for a moment.

"Wow, someone got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning." Paul said slowly.

"Just shut up." I said sighing. Why me? No, seriously why me?

"He has something of a sister complex towards Mia due to the fact that Lilly will kick his ass if he tries to be brotherly towards her." Paul stage whispered to Judith who let out this high-pitch sort of giggle while I tried not to death glared them. A sister complex? With Thermopolis? Oh God no! Why do these things keep happening to me?

"I think that's really sweet." Judith said smiling up at me, "You're trying to be like a big brother to her, that's really nice of you Michael." Her smile grew even wider as she mistook my gagging for embarrassed coughing.

Somebody, please take mercy on me and just shot me already! _Please_!

Judith thankfully had to catch a different train to me, but I couldn't rid myself of Paul quite so easily.

"So what's got you in such a foul mood?" He asked once we were safely on board. He took an empty seat while I remain standing.

"Nothing."

"Well clearly it can't be nothing since you completely missed Judith trying to hit on you." Now I really was gagging.

"She was WHAT?" I yelled. I felt my ears go red as several other subway travellers shot me the evil eye.

"She was trying to use her feminie wiles on you, you dope." Paul sniggered.

"No, she wasn't." I growled. "Plus she has a boyfriend."

"So?"

I just stared at him open mouth before shaking my head. He didn't know what he was talking about. He was just bored and trying to get a rise out me so that I could then provide him with free entertainment… I seriously need new friends.

"I can't believe you didn't notice." He kept saying, shaking his head like I was some particularly slow kid who just couldn't get my head around a simple equation. Two plus two is four. Ta Dah!

"What was there to notice?" I snapped at him, "Nothing! Seriously, you're just seeing what you want to see because you're still depressed about Fox cancelling _Firefly_ and that _Buffy_ is finally coming to an end." Mind you, I too, was still somewhat depressed about these two facts.

"That is completely beside the point." He grumbled, pouting slightly and I rolled eyes. Thankfully I was able to get off a few stops later and escape him.

I thought when I got home, I would have peace and quiet but then this is my family and peace and quiet doesn't quite happen. Computer says no to peace in quiet in my house, especially when my sister is on one of her crusades about something or other.

Such as tormenting her stalker as I found out as soon as I walked in the front door. Ye gods, that girl is nutz.

And ow, my ears still ache from her screaming and yelling that our parents were violating the First Amendment because they weren't allowing her to video tape her feet or something or other for her next episode.

My question is; why the hell would anyone watch a show about feet? In particular her feet? Actually what I really want to know is why anyone would bother watching Lil's show at all, in the first place?

But apparently people do, I mean that's how Lil got her stalker and all, and that's why she wanted to video tap her feet, to torment him some more. I swear she makes Anya, Faith and Yo-Saff-Bridg look normal and those women were completely nutz! Joss really does know how to write his crazy women…

Anyway, now our parents are putting their foot down on her show, saying that they'll no longer be paying for the airing of it. That is until further notice and she proves to them that she is responsible and finds no need to taunt her stalker any longer. Until then, no more L_illy Tells It Like It Is_… aw, my heart is just breaking for her.

Problem was though, she heard my, um, sympathy towards her now lack of funding for her show causing her to decide to get back at me later.

"Guess you're wondering who she chose, huh?" She started out slowly before I had a chance to yell at her to get the hell out of my room.

I really need to get a lock on that door, but parental unit might just decide that they need to analyse me for suicidal tendency or some stupid crap like that.

"I don't really care." Even though of course, I do. A whole lot in fact but of course can't let adorable little sister know about that huh? Why couldn't I have been given a crazy, but cool little sister who can kill people with her brain instead of this psychotic little freak?

"Sure you don't?" she was baiting me and so not going to rise for it. I kept my eyes glued to my computer screen.

We stayed like this for about five minutes in complete silence, only the sound of my typing and mouse clicking breaking it.

"She chose Josh." My fingers froze for just a moment on my keyboard before they started typing again.

On the outside I portrayed her usual, boring, dorky, computer geek older brother… on the inside I was a mess, throwing a complete fit inside my head.

She gave a disgusted snort before saying. "And I can understand why."

And then she left, slamming my bedroom door shut behind her. Pavlov who had been sleeping soundly on my bed, let out a little startled yelp before calming himself down again and went back to sleep. Wish I could go from freaking out to calm like that.

I don't know how long I sat there trying to remain calm and not smash my computer in, because I knew rationally that while it might have made me feel a hell of lot better then, later I would actually miss it.

I think I sat there in silence for at least half an hour before a little Instant Message box appeared on my screen.

FtLouie

I sort of blinked at it for a minute before frowning, and my stomach still churn up over what my darling sister had just informed me, I open the message box where she had typed 'hey'.

Hey? What the…

_**CracKing:**_ What do you want, Thermopolis?

It took her several moments to respond. I wonder if I had upset her with my shortness but at the moment, I really couldn't care less.

_**FtLouie:**_ I want to talk toy Lilly. Please go off-line so that I can call her.

She was as short as I was.

Leaning back in my chair I typed back.

_**CracKing: **_What do you want to talk to her about?

_**FtLouie:**_ None of your business. Just go off-line, please. You can't hog all the lines of communication to yourself. It isn't fair.

Ok, I admit my temper did flare up at this. I couldn't help it. I had already had a pretty bad day and finding out that she had chosen, ok, I know that it was just a game, but still she chose him over me and now here she was being all snotty and short with me! So in return I acted like a jerk back to her.

_**CracKing:**_ No one ever said life was fair, Thermopolis. What are you doing home, anyway? What's the matter? Dreamboy didn't call?

It took her several moments to respond and I could tell she that re-wrote her answer several times before finally sending.

_**FtLouie:**_ Who's Dreamboy?

I could almost hear her confused voice saying that as I read it and for some reason that only infuriated me more.

_**CracKing:**_ You know, your post-nuclear Armageddon life mate of choice, Josh Richter.

Even re-reading it, I know I sound like a complete arse and it takes her even longer to respond to this and when she does, I know I've completely and utterly pissed her off.

_**FtLouie:**_ WOULD YOU PLEASR GO OFF-LINE SO THAT I CAN CALL LILLY?

Wow, so even when she is mad as hell she still stays moderately polite. Lil and I would have cut out the 'please' crap long time back.

It was kind of amusing actually, because making Thermopolis mad is actually an achievement in itself. Usually when she's upset over something she just goes quiet and moping. I don't think I've ever heard her yell or seen her yelling over Instant Messages.

_**CracKing:**_ What's the matter, Thermopolis? Did I strike a nerve?

I guess I did because almost as soon as I had sent that she logged off.

I sat there for a moment, quietly seething though at whom I wasn't sure; I was both mad at her and at myself.

"Ah, fuck it." I growl shoving myself out of my chair and flung my door and hollered.

"Lil, call Thermopolis."

Lil stuck her head out her bedroom, frowning back at me.

"Why?"

"Because she wants to talk to you, that's why." I growled back at her.

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Because she IM me to ask me to get off-line so that she could call you. I'm off-line now, so go call her already." Lil sort of stared at me for a moment before saying.

"Why would she IM _you_?" Like that it is the most insane thing in the world for her to do.

My scowl grew even deeper as I snapped.

"I already told you, she wants to talk to you. Now go freaking call her already." I yanked my head back into my room at that and slammed my door shut, kicking my computer off, without probably shutting down, before flopping on to my bed. Or I would if my dog wasn't taking up most of it.

"Pav, move already, my bed." I gave him a shove before lying down. In revenge for shoving him out of his spot, he proceeded to lie back down upon my chest, making it incredibly hard for me to breath. Death by dog crushing lungs… Oh, well could be worse.

Why am I such a jerk towards her?

No wonder she chose _Dreamboy_ over me.

_She probably chose him solely because the person who asked her was Lil. She only said she choose Josh because she didn't want to freak Lil, your sister and her best friend out by choosing you._

I really hate this voice.

This rational, weird, annoying little voice (and I swear I'm not losing it or at least I'm not losing it before Lil does. She going to the mental institute first, if it's the last thing I do, she's going there before I do), that lives in the back of my brain.

I don't normally listen to it; I generally try to ignore it due to the fact that it was what had made me aware of my… feelings towards Thermopolis. But tonight was no different.

I shut it out again, muttering that that was only wishful thinking. There wasn't any hard, solid proof that provided its claim.

I didn't hear any reply, which hopefully means I'm not loosing my nut, which of course would be bad… though, it might solve my problems but then I'd just end up being stuck with more people like mom and dad. And mom and dad are bad enough, thanks.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> So that's chapter four. Hope you all enjoyed.  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own the shows Firefly or Buffy nor the characters from them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Another week spent avoiding and ignoring Thermopolis. Once again it wasn't hard because she too seemed to be using the same tactics, avoiding and ignoring me. But do you want to know what's worse about that? The fact that it seems to be so easy for her to do.

She doesn't even have to think about it, she just does it! Ignore me, while I'm fighting with myself to _not_ go searching for her within the G&T classroom or out in the corridors or in the Caff. It's not fair!

I hate it, I hate this.

I hate the fact that even with all the avoidance and forced ignoring, that these feelings… they're not going away. Not even a little, in fact, they just seem to be growing stronger!

It's not a crush… yeah; there I've said it, though I know it isn't one.

I've had crushes before this, not many, but enough to know how I act when I have one. I don't act the same way around Thermopolis as I did when I was around the girls' I had crushes on.

With those few girls I had been, I guess, shy and awkward, not sure of what to say or do around them. And I spent a hell of a lot of time being red in the face.

But with Thermopolis, that doesn't happen, I know exactly what to say when I'm around her. Granted, it's not always the right thing to say, but I never get tongue-tied with her. No, I just proceed to tease the buggery out of her before sitting back and watch her go all red in the face and trying stammer out a comeback that is only digging her into an even deeper grave.

I know not to wear a shirt when she is over at mine, because despite all other appearances of her not being able to stand me, she does seem to enjoy checking out my chest.

I can act normal around her. Actually I probably act more normal (when I'm not being a complete jackass towards her) around her than I am with anyone else, so does that imply that I feel something more for her than a crush or less than?

I mean there was a time when we could talk about pretty much everything; Star Wars, Buffy, whether or not Lilly latest scheme is stupid and if so, will it still work. There was even a time when she used to tell me stuff that she didn't tell anyone else, not even Lil.

She told me how much she worried about her mom because seriously Helen can be something of a scatter-brain. How much she really didn't like leaving her at summer and Christmas break to go spend time with her Dad and 'Grandmere'. How much she didn't like her 'Grandmere'. And more importantly, she told me how lonely she got when she wasn't over at ours. Her biggest fear, at least six months ago, was that she might one day become forgotten. That her mom might actually forget her and that her Dad (because her mom and dad never married, I'm one of the few people who know that), when he finally marries and has 'legitimate' kids, he might forget her too.

I do also know that these were the worries of a twelve – thirteen year old, but I do remember the fact that she told me, me and not Lil these things, these worries that weighed her down and made her sad.

She's sad at the moment and worried and she's not telling Lilly about it, about what's going on, she's keeping it all close to her chest. But she's not going to tell me what's wrong now, is she?

Nope, of course not because I went and stuffed everything up because I panicked, completely freaked out and mess everything up.

It had started out innocently enough about six-eight months ago. I had just spent the afternoon with Felix, half listening, barely listening to him drone on and on about his latest girlfriend, about how hot she was and what a great kisser she was. Me, being the dope that I am had grumbled that I didn't know what was so great about kissing, why there was such a great fuss made about it. Felix said that I only thought that way because I had only ever kissed people who had wanted me to kiss them. In which I had replied, well, wasn't that the whole point? To kiss them because they wanted me to kiss them? Felix then proceeded to laugh at me at that, telling me that when I found the 'right' one (because he said I was one of those special morons who needed to find the 'right' one for everything in my brain to finally click together and work as it should), that I, I, wanted to kiss then I'd understand what the whole fuss over kissing was about. I just said I greatly doubted that and went home, where I found Thermopolis, on one of the rare times over at ours when Lil wasn't around (she was at some convention thing with Mom that day and it had been running longer than expected) and she was sitting in the Den watching a re-run of a Buffy episode.

As I said above, it started out innocently enough, with me having one of the very few uninterrupted by annoying little sister conversations with Thermopolis about the latest episode of Buffy, when I randomly wondered what it would be like to, 'sigh', kiss her.

On the mouth.

Of the French variety.

I blame her and her damn nearest to my height! I mean even a thirteen she was tall and close to my height! And she has the pretties grey eyes that I've ever seen. And she had been smiling that pretty smile that she so rarely ever gives out. And she was smiling it at me!

It took me a couple of moments to finally click on to what I had just thought and had then become horrified that I had thought it. This was after all my little sister going on eight years best friend, who was/is three years my junior.

I pretty much flipped out and left her quite abruptly, mid-sentence in fact of whatever she was about to say to me. I didn't even say anything to her, just sort of turn my back on her and stalked to my room, slamming my door behind me, though not before I caught a glance behind me and saw the confused, hurt look (it was right up there with Alyson Hannigan's hurt Willow looks) that she was sending me.

It had been a good and entertaining conversation before I had gone and ruined it.

And after that everything kind of went… we just grew distant after that. She got all embarrassed and stuttering around me and I was just a teasing, asshole back to her.

And really by being distant with her, it hasn't stopped my imagination from imagining what it be like to kiss her. In fact, I think it's just made it worse.

"Michael, are you even listening." An irritating voice demanded somewhere near my right, breaking through my depressed thoughts.

"No." I snapped back, not lifting my head from the desk top I was currently laying it upon, on top of my crossed arms. I heard the room that I was currently in start to giggle and snigger around me.

Yeah, yeah, I hate you all too.

"I was asking how much money we had, so that we can start thinking about what we're going to do this year for our booth." Judith said patiently, though I could tell I had pissed her off, though I don't know why. It's not like this is the first time I've zoned out on a Computer Club meeting.

It's not like I'm really into the club or anything. Actually the only reason I'm in the club is so that I can bring my Laptop into school, something that only Computer Club members are allowed to do. Why? It's some school rule I'll never understand.

Anyway, I looked back at her blankly asking what booth?

Now she did let her frustration show. "The booth the Computer Club is holding at the Winter Carnival." As if that was the most obvious thing in the world. I just blinked at her.

"That's in December." I pointed out.

"I know." She replied.

"It's October."

"I know." She said again, though this time she was somewhat red in the face.

"You think we need two mouths and something days to come up with an idea for a booth for a carnival that is being held on the last day of school?" I asked with raised eyebrows. The giggles and sniggers around the room grew louder and Judith grew even redder in the face as she now scowled at me.

"It doesn't hurt to get prepared early." She snapped. Now she looked really pissed at me. Great!

"Fine. So what we doing?" I asked. That threw her for a moment before she regained some of her composure.

"That's what we're trying to decide now!"

"So why are you asking me about how much money we have when we don't even know what we want to do?" I really need to learn to shut up because I swear Judith was about ready to strangle me with a mouse cord just then.

"So that we can set ourselves a budget." She snapped.

"For what?" I laughed, "We barely ever spend anything on these booths. All the programming stuff we need is already on these computers. We have never needed to get anyone in to help us with our booths. So why do we need to decide a budget when technically we don't need one." This made my job as treasurer a little redundant at times.

Ok, by this point I actually started feeling a little sorry for Judith. I mean this is her first (and only) year as the Computer Club President and she wants to go out with a bang. She wants this year's booth to be so fantastic and memorable that people will be talking about it for years.

"What if we have a program where you can dress all the teachers up in ridiculous costumes?" a tall, weedy sort of kid suggested from the back of the room. I think he's name is Ken, or is it Kenny? Whatever, he's a freshman and is still full of the energy that people like Judith and me have lost over the years. Well, that Judith has lost. Me, I never really had it. I've never really been one who gets into the whole school spirit of things. That's why I've never really cared about our booth at Winter Carnival. It never does well anyway, so…

Thankfully it was time to leave soon after that and I got to get away from Judith hurt glares in my direction.

God, all I wanted to do was go home and watch either Buffy or Firefly, I don't care which, I just need a strong dose of Joss Whedon universe.

I was so absorbed in my own thoughts, that I wasn't really watching where I was going. Usually I don't have to because being a Friday afternoon and being in the only club that uses a classroom on a Friday afternoon, there shouldn't of been anyone else around, except… there was and I crashed straight into her as she came flying out of the girls' bathroom, proceeding to successfully wind me and knock her straight to the ground.

It was her 'SAVE THE WHALES' backpack that had exploded open on our impact that told me, that of course, it was her, that I had to have crashed into.

"Christ, Thermopolis." I grumbled as I watched her scramble around on the floor trying to pick up all the odds and sods that had exploded out of her bag. Why the hell are her high-tops and socks in her backpack? And wait… was that lipstick?

"What happen to _you_?" I asked incredulously as I bent down and pick up the lipstick, something I wasn't expecting to see her carry around for another couple of years. If ever.

That was when she looked up at me, her eyes confused and distant. Her lips were painted a very suggestive red colour, so that it displayed every curve that her mouth made, especially when she was pouting, as she was doing now as she looked up at me almost accusingly.

"You know I have to meet with Mr Gianni every day after school because I'm flunking Alge-"

"I know _that_." I said, trying to keep my head. I mean, how can lipstick make someone who is already rather pretty suddenly look so incredibly… _hot_?

I am so going to the Hellmouth for this!

"I mean what's with the war paint?" I said, waving the tube of lipstick in front of her face until she basically ripped it from my hand and shoved it to the depths of her backpack.

"Nothing." She snapped at me. Great, now I've pissed off two girls in just over an hour. I'm on a roll today. "Don't tell Lilly." And piss her off too? No thank you.

"Don't tell Lilly what?" I had just managed to demand that before my words more or less effectively abandon me as she stood up off the floor.

My mouth dropped.

What – the – _hell_?

Wow, has she got long legs. And were they always that curvy? How come I'm just noticing all this now? Is it cause of pantyhose? Why is she wearing pantyhose? And wow, they really are long and curvy, how could I not notice this before?

_Focus Moscovitz!_

I seem to regain my voice as I yelped "Jesus Thermopolis. Where are _you_ going?" and can I come too.

Stop it!

She swallowed nervously as her eyes tarting around madly behind me as she squeaked "nowhere."

Yeah, right, I snorted.

"Nobody goes _nowhere_ looking like _that_." Looking that hot, not to mention that nervous too. Wait… I shifted my laptop from one arm to the other as an idea came to me. One I didn't like one bit.

"Thermopolis," I said slowly, watching her face closely, "are you going out on a _date_?" Please say no. Please say no. Please, please, please.

She just stared back at me as if I had gone completely mad.

"_What_?" like it was the most absurd thing she had ever heard! Clearly, she hasn't looked in the mirror recently. "No, I'm not going on a date!" Relief filled me, but why does she have to sound like it would be the least likely thing to ever happen to her. Seriously, Thermopolis, go look in the mirror sometime… and don't forget to smile. "I have to meet my grandmother." The relief I had been feeling immediately evaporated.

I just stared at her, completely deadpan. That was the best excuse she could come up with, seriously? Meeting her grandmother?

"And do you usually wear lipstick and pantyhose to meet your grandmother?"

She opened her mouth to answer but was stopped by a series of soft coughing.

We both looked down the hall where this huge guy was standing by the front doors. And I don't know and this is going to sound completely insane, but he reminded me of the bodyguards you see in movies, just by the way he was standing and how he was dressed. He even had the shades.

I looked from him to Thermopolis then back again, noting how pale her face had gone, which is impressive since her face was a flaming red colour only moments ago.

"Look," she squeaked, "don't tell Lilly, ok?" she sounded close to begging.

I opened my mouth to say, duh, of course I wouldn't, but she was already bolting down the hall towards the big guy, who was watching her do so with a tiny smirk of amusement playing on his face.

After she had past him out the door, he looked back at me, the big guy, with this sort of curiousness to him.

I felt my cheeks go red. I hadn't taken my eyes off her the whole time she had run down the hall and I guess he had noticed. And found that to be amusing. Great.

I heard a soft whistle from behind me, making me chronically aware that my exchange with Thermopolis had had an audience.

I looked back at them and saw that a majority of them were boys and all of them were staring in the direction that Thermopolis had just fled in.

"Eyes – back in their sockets – NOW!" I snapped furiously at them causing them all to yelp 'ah yep' and 'sorry' before they all pelted off down the hall with me glowing after them.

"That's some sister complex you got there." I heard a voice behind me comment and I felt like groaning and smacking my head against the nearest wall.

"It's not. I'm just keeping an eye out for her." I growled back at Judith who took my wrath surprisingly well, only raising her eyebrows at me.

"By sounding so amazed by the possibility that she might have a date?" Judith asked. "You know, that might be why she didn't tell you that she has one, because she thought you might make fun of her or something."

"She's meeting her Grandmother." I growled. The thought of Thermopolis having a date was making my stomach churn and my hear-head hurt.

And who was that big guy, anyway? I mean, surely not her date, her mom is pretty open-minded but not that open-minded! So maybe…

Well her Dad was in town so maybe her grandmother really was too! And from what I had heard about Thermopolis Dad side they were a pretty powerful family in Genovia where her Dad is a Politician or something like that. He gave her a limo to be driven around in! So maybe to go meet her grandmother she did…

"Dressed like that?" she used the same incredulous tone that I used. I shrugged.

"Her dad is a diplomat or politician sort of person, so maybe he's taking her and her grandmother to a fancy restaurant where there is a strict dress-code or something." I was reaching but in a way it made sense, at least in my head, it did. I didn't really care if it did for Judith who was still looking at me with a raised eyebrows and a sceptical expression on her face.

"I'm going home." I said giving her a half-hearted wave before slouching off. I'm tall, so yes I slouch, it's what I do. I've done it all my life; I'm not going to start not doing it now.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>This was a fun chapter to write. Obviously I made up the back story as to how Michael first clicked that he liked Mia in a more than she's my little sister's best friend sort of way, since I don't think it is ever explained in the books how Michael discoved he was in love with Mia, so I just made up my own version of how it might of happened... Hope it sounds logical and Michael-like to everyone here reading this.  
>I never thought I'd have so much fun writing MichaelJudith scenes (because of the obvious reason that we all know), but I am. It's actually alot of fun.  
>I'm trying to set up their relationshipfriendship/whatever it is, really, early, so that if I do continue writing Michael POV of at least the next two books, their "relationship" won't appear random or anything.  
>Thanks for reading.<br>Hope to hear from you all, to tell me what you think.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: **This is a rather short chapter, but it is still a good one (well, I think). It's Mia's and Lil's fight from Michael POV, plus stuff I added at the end, because I do and I can. Fanfiction is great like that.  
>Anyway, enjoy and comments are much loved.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six<strong>

You know typically in our household, Saturday afternoons are generally quiet, usually because I'm the only one at home because the Parental unit are off doing something or other. Don't ask, don't tell and really I don't want to know. And usually Lil is off spending the afternoon with her friends either going to Great Shanghai in Chinatown or filming a new episode for her show and then going to the Great Shanghai in China town. But apparently because Thermopolis was busy (yeah, I know, a first for her. Thermopolis never misses a day of filming for Lil's show and yet Lil is acting like this is the hundredth time she's done it!) and so Lil cut her filming session short and came home in this huge huff, growling that she was just "on the brink of breaking the cycle of racism that has been rampant in delis across five boroughs". But because Thermopolis miss today's filming her whole master plan of exposing the racism in delis is now falling apart!

I just stared at her for a moment before grabbing my bowl of cereal and can of coke and escaping for my room.

I really don't understand how anyone is friends with her at times. Yes, she's funny and can be nice when she wants to but overall (and I know I am her brother, but honestly I've spent the last eight years watching how she treats Thermopolis), she really can be a bitch at times.

Anyway, about an hour after Lil had come home, I heard the front door bell ring and figure it was Thermopolis coming over to apologize for missing a day of filming. Yes, because she can't possibly go and live her own life. Oh no, that would interfere with Lil's plans and we can't have that now, can we?

"Oh my god, what happen to you?"

Oh, nice one Lil.

And yeah, it's defiantly Thermopolis over because at this point Pavlov has bolted out of my bedroom and he only ever does that when she's around.

"What are you? Completely passive? You're mute or something?" Ok, what the hell? I started to stand up because this sounded further than Lil usually pushes it with Thermopolis. "Unable to say the word no? You know, Mia, we really need to work on your assertiveness. You seem to have real issues with your grandmother. I mean, you certainly don't have any trouble saying no to _me_." Oh for god sake, Lil. One time, one flipping time. Get over yourself. "I could have really used your help today with the Ho segment, and you totally let me down."

Ok, I admit I was starting to get mad now, because as I listened to my sister voice growing increasingly in volume say these things and wincing as she said them, I was imagining Thermopolis, who ok, can't say no, really to anyone, taking this abuse from my sister without a word, then would most likely go straight home after this Lilly Insanity rant session in tears.

I grabbed my empty bowl of cereal.

"But you've got no problem letting your grandmother cut off all your hair" wait what; I started to move faster, "and dye it yellow…"

"Lilly, _shut up_."

_Whoa_

And

"Whoa."

I don't know what part I was 'whoa'-ing at more; her telling my sister to shut up (Very impressive and I'm actually kind of proud of her for doing so. How's that about being assertive now, Lil?) or the fact that she actually does look like a completely different person.

No, wait, not a completely different person, she still looks like Thermopolis, just a different Thermopolis. Older sort of, in a good way.

Her hair was cut short but it actually looked really good because you can see her face more clearly now and ok, it being dyed several different shades of yellow is a bit much but it still not overbearing nor does it distract you away from her face, where make-up has obviously been touch on recently. Professionally done make-up that was done to bring out and assert her eyes, mouth and cheekbones.

I don't know what Lil's making a fuss about because personally I think she looks great… oh, that might be why. Thermopolis now looks pretty and Lil doesn't like it. God, sisters!

"What? _What_ did you just say to me?" Again, ye gods' sisters!

She's mad, really mad. You can tell by the fact that her face becomes more pug-like the angrier she gets.

I thought Thermopolis was going to back down at this and apologize. I mean not many people can deal with Lil when she's in a good mood; even less can handle her when she's like this, it usually ends up with them getting hurt, either physically or emotionally and at the moment Thermopolis already looked pretty beat up emotionally.

But she didn't, if anything she looked even angrier than Lil did, except that she doesn't look like a pug when she gets angry.

No, she looks like Thermopolis still but a Thermopolis who could possibly have stopped Hitler in his tracks just by glaring at him.

She looked that mad and hurt right then.

"I'm tired of you putting me down all the time. All day long, my mom and dad and grandmother and teachers are telling me what to do. I don't need my friends getting on my case too." I felt like clapping. No, seriously I did. Instead I just said whoa again. Yes, I am a man of many words.

"What," Lil face was becoming the most pug like I think I've ever seen it and she was close to shrieking now, "is your problem?"

"You know what? I don't have a problem. You're the one with the problem. You seem to have a big problem with me. Well, you know what? I'm going to solve your problem for you." Now was when I started feeling a little sick to my gut because I was seeing, at least for now, the beginning of the end.

I was seeing something that I had been wondering when I was going to see for years, basically from the moment Lil introduce shy, push-over Mia Thermopolis as her best friend.

I guess, I've been waiting for the day when Lil finally chased her away like she's done with all her other "friends", though I kind of always hoped that Thermopolis would always make it, would always stay, but… "I'm leaving."

I don't think Thermopolis saw this and I only did because I was standing next to Lil and I also happen to be her brother, but when Thermopolis said that Lil winced and this sort of shudder went through her whole body. "I never wanted to help you with your stupid Ho-Gate story anyway. The Hos are nice people. They haven't done anything wrong. I don't see why you have to pick on them. And" she was at the front door now, wrenching it open and freaking the hell out of Pavlov who had been happily bounding around her legs up until then, "my hair is not yellow." And then she slammed the door behind her with Lil and me staring after her with open mouths.

Ok, mine was hanging open, Lil seemed to be trying to gain control over her features. For a moment I thought she was going to go after Thermopolis to apologize but she didn't. Instead she whirled around to face me, yelling "My Ho-Gate story is not STUPID!"

I just stared at her in disbelief.

"That's _all_ you got from all that?" I asked as I pointed after Thermopolis. Lil just scowled up at me before shrieking "who does she think she is!"

"Someone who was obviously very hurt by what you were screeching at her."

"I wasn't screeching!" she basically screeched back at me.

I rolled my eyes. There was no point talking to her when she got like this.

"Fine, just go call her when you've calm down and apologize."

"Why do I have to?" she demanded and I looked at her weirdly. "Why do I have to be the one to apologize? She's the one who's gone mental!"

"Um, because you kind of pushed her to it." I pointed out.

"No, I didn't."

"Eh, yeah you did. Some of those things you said were kind of mean, Lil. I mean, Gee Lil for being the daughter of psychoanalysts you couldn't pick up on the fact that Thermopolis already looked pretty beaten up already before you started digging into her? Ring her up when she gets home and apologize."

"No."

"Oh for god sakes Lil. Why not?"

"Because I have done nothing wrong." She yelled at me, "I was just trying to help her help herself."

"By insulting her and making her feel like crap?" I asked, though actually I think it came out more as a demand.

"Of course you _would_ take her side in all this." She howled at me. I threw up my arms in a 'I-have-no-weapons-so-don't-bite-my-head-off" gesture.

"I'm not taking anyone side, Lil. I just can see where she is coming from, that's all. I mean she came over here after obviously having a real bad day and you immediately start ripping into her."

"Because she looks like LANA WEINBERGER!"

"Aren't you always telling her that it's what on the inside that counts?" I got kicked in the leg for that one, hard.

"Geez, no wonder she no longer wants your friend, you angry, little sociopath." I growled as I rubbed my calf vigorous, full well knowing that I was going to get a bruise because of her.

"Shut up." She screamed at me and I knew that I had defiantly struck a nerve in her.

One look at her face told me just how upset she really was about her fight with Thermopolis than she was actually trying to let on.

"Why, just this once, can't you just admit that you're wrong and just go and apologize already?"

"I have nothing to apologize for." I just sighed heavily as she continued to rant that it was Thermopolis who was the one who should apologize, for being such a head-case since her dad arrived here and for not supporting her boycott against the Ho's.

"You do realise that by doing this, fighting with Thermopolis, you're just going to be making yourself miserable, right?"

"I don't need her. It's her that is going to be miserable because she is the one who needs me more!" she growled and stormed off for her room, slamming it shut behind her.

"Yeah, sure you don't." I said rolling my eyes at Pavlov. Because truth be told, it's Lil who needs Thermopolis, not the other way round.

I wonder how long it's going to take Lil to admit that to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

It was almost too quiet here today. Lil has been keeping to her room, only emerging to grab some food or go to the bathroom. The parental unit isn't too concern yet but it's only a matter of time before they start psychoanalysing her to discover the cause for her sudden lack of voice and general noisiness.

Wonder what they'll say when they discover it because Lil is suffering from the after-shocks of her fight with Thermopolis. I wonder whose side they'll pick… probably Lil's but in their hearts they'll be, like me silently going 'way to go Thermopolis'.

She is after all their favourite child.

And speak of the devil, she's just came online.

I had sent her an email earlier to see if I could talk some sense into her to be the sensible, mature one and get her talking to Lil again.

What I wrote was – Hey, Thermopolis. What happen to you last night? It's like you went mental, or something.

Ok, yeah, as proud and as please with her as I was(and still am), it did seem like she lost a couple of screws in her brain last night for her to explode like that at Lil.

Her reply was:

_**FtLouie:**_ For your information, I did not go mental. I just got tired of your sister always telling me what to do. Not that it's any of your business.

I stared at my screen for a moment, sort of not quite believing that it was really Thermopolis on the other end who typed it. But then the last time we Instant Message each other, she just end up yelling at me, so maybe it isn't quite so hard to believe as it might once have been. And what does she mean it's none of my business? She is my business!

But of course I can't say that to her, she might take it the wrong way or possibly the right way and then I'd just end up being completely screwed because then she'd know that I liked her more than an older brother of her best friend (or is it ex-best friend now) should.

_**CracKing:**_ What are you being so snotty about? – Snotty? Seriously? What am I, a twelve year old girl? - Of course, it's my business. I have to live with her, don't I?

_**FtLouie:**_ Why? Is she talking about me?

Not at the moment, but you should have heard her screeching yesterday. But once again I didn't say what I was thinking. Giving Thermopolis too much of the truth generally just ends up with her freaking out big time. I've learnt that giving it to her in small dosages does seem to help soften the blow.

_**CracKing:**_ You could say that?

Could I be anymore cryptic? If I keep this up I'm going to end up with both girls pissed off at me, which usually ends badly… for me. Though if they're not talking, I might actually be spared for awhile… that is until they join forces again to set out to destroy me.

_**FtLouie: **_What's she saying?

_**CracKing:**_ I thought it was none of my business.

I am so a dead man and losing even more points in becoming her first choice as her post-nuclear Armageddon life mate.

_**FtLouie:**_ It isn't. What's she saying about me?

Ok so I did decide to take pity on her. I mean I'm kind of sick of her thinking of me simply as jerk and I'm tired of being a complete jerk towards her. And what better ways of getting into her good graces than helping her with her fight with my sister and her (ex) best friend by giving her information.

_**CracKing:**_ That she doesn't know what's with you these days, but ever since your dad come to visit, you've been acting like a head case.

Ok, that possibly might not have gotten me many brownie points because I actually didn't edit anything that Lil originally said but hopefully she can appreciate honesty.

_**FtLouie:**_ Me? A head case? – Or not – What about her? She's the one who's always criticizing me. I'm so sick of it! If she wants to be my friend, why can't she accept me the way I am?

I could understand and agree with all that she had typed. I mean, she was right, Lil should, if she was really Thermopolis's friend, accept Thermopolis for who she is and not criticise her over every single detail in her life.

But once again I can't say that because in all my drafts they've come out way too mushy or let on too much of my real feelings for her. So I just went with…

_**CracKing:**_ No need to yell.

Yeah, I'm a real man of words.

_**FtLouie:**_ I'm not yelling!

I sniggered just a little at that. She is just so damn cute at times, even on-line.

_**CracKing:**_ You're using excessive amounts of punctuation, and on-line, that's like yelling. – Oh, yeah real smooth, Moscovitz! – Besides, she's not the only one criticising. – I can not believe I was defending my sister and her stupid boycott to Thermopolis. – She says you won't support her boycott of Ho's Deli.

_**FtLouie:**_ Well, she's right. I won't. It's stupid. Don't you think it's stupid?

Well, duh, of course I do! But once again, I have to live with her!

I rubbed my face. This was so not how I wanted this conversation to go. How I actually wanted it to go, I have no idea, I just know I didn't want it to be like this, with her being generally pissed off and yelling at me.

I found myself looking at my year nine Algebra book and felt an idea forming in my head.

_**CracKing:**_ Sure, it's stupid. Are you still flunking Algebra?

Ok not the best way of starting a whole new conversation. Ok it was completely random and out of the blue. But she seemed to flow with it.

_**FtLouie:**_ I guess so. But considering the fact that Mr G slept over last night, I'll probably scrape by with a D. Why?

What?

I started laughing and wait; did she just let me in? Tell me something that she obviously would just about die if anyone else knew? I sobered up immediately.

_**CracKing:**_ What? Mr G slept over? At your place? What was that like?

There was a short pause and I was beginning to worry that she might be freaking out from telling me (of all people) this strange change in her life and log off. But she didn't, in fact she open up to me a little more.

_**FtLouie:**_ It was pretty awful. But then he kind of joked around, and made it ok. I don't know. I should probably be more mad, but my mom's so happy, it's hard.

I felt myself smile.

Thermopolis, always thinking of others before herself. I mean she might not like her mom being with Mr G but she is forcing herself to be happy for her mom's sake and not making things hard for her mom and Mr G. How can my idiotic/genius sister be mad at a person like her?

_**CracKing:**_ Your mom could do a lot worse than Mr G. Imagine if she was going out with Mr Stuart.

I shuddered at the thought.

Mr Stuart is a perverted creep and if I was the principle of AESH I would fire him so fast. God, he better not try to give one of his "shoulder massages" on Thermopolis or I'll seriously break his arm. Or at least hack into to his personal computer and overrun it with every virus I can think of and create.

_**FtLouie:**_ Ha ha ha. Why'd you want to know whether or not I'm flunking Algebra?

Oh, right yeah. I swallowed nervously. Ok, now or never. Just because Lil wasn't talking to her didn't mean I couldn't and actually this might be the chance I need to get close to her again and without Lil interrupting.

_**CracKing:**_ Oh, because I'm done with this month's issue of Crackhead, and I thought if you wanted, I could tutor you during G&T. If you wanted.

Please don't say no. Please.

_**FtLouie:**_ Wow, that would be great! Thanks!

She sounds so enthusiastic too. And I'm not being sarcastic either. She sounds (or rather reads) genuinely enthused by my offer to tutor her.

YES!

"MICHAEL!" I heard loud banging on my door which meant only one thing, Lil wanted me for something or other and she wouldn't stop banging it til I finally did as she wanted.

Sighing heavily, I yelled back "in a moment, Lil." And as an afterthought, "and stop breaking my door!"

_**CracKing:**_ Don't mention it. Hang in there, Thermopolis.

And then I grudgingly signed off.

On the bright side a least I got somewhere today and didn't have her annoyed at me for all of our conversation. And now I had an excuse to hang with her.

"Michael!"

Right, damn, Lil.

"What Lil?" I snapped swing my bedroom door open only to discover her all puffy eyed outside.

"What's the matter with you?" I asked quite taken aback by her appearance. Even more taken aback by her throwing herself at me.

"What th…" I looked wildly over her at our parental unit who had just appeared in the hall out side our rooms.

"What?" I said waving one hand over Lil sobbing head. "What's this? What's going on?" the parental unit looked just as perplexed as I felt.

"We don't really know. We just asked if Mia was coming over tonight and she just started crying." Dad said looking quite worried and I don't blame him, it takes a lot to make Lil cry, like real-deal cry, like she was doing now.

"And we simply asked her what was wrong and if everything was ok and if we could help…" Mom started but Lil cut her off.

"You don't want to help; you just want to psychoanalyse me for your stupid research paper." She yelled back at them, though it was rather muffled because her face was buried into my shirt.

"Lilly," mom said looking appalled, "that's not true."

"To hell it isn't." Lilly shrieked back. I just looked at Dad and Dad just looked back at me.

"Michael, maybe you can calm her down while we order dinner and we'll go from there." Dad said and I nodded.

"Come on, Lil." I pulled her into my room, closing the door behind us.

"What was that about?" I asked as I sat her down on my bed and myself down in my computer chair. She rubbed her nose on her sweater sleeve as well as her still watery eyes.

"I needed saving." She said thickly.

"Figured that much out myself thanks. What with the waterworks and the strangle hold? You know you're not supposed to bring attention to this sort of stuff with them. You know what they're like. Mom in particular."

"I know." She snapped, "but they just kept going on and on about it."

"'It' being Thermopolis?" she gave me the evil eye to which I responded with throwing my arms up on either side of my head.

"I'm just checking. So huh," I start to smile, "guess you're missing Thermopolis more than you thought, not to mention sooner." Her glare grew even worse but I could see her eyes growing brighter, a sure hint that more waterworks were on their way.

"Lil, be the bigger person and just call her up and apologize. It'll make you feel better."

"No."

I rolled my eyes.

"Fine, be miserable and psychoanalysed by Mom and Dad. Have fun with that."

We sat there in silence as I logged off the internet so that Dad could call take out.

"Do you think she's missing me?"

"What?"

"Do you think she's missing me? Mia?" she was asking in this small voice, one I hadn't heard since she was real small.

She looked so wide eyed and worried that I felt a little surge of pity towards her as I saw several tears leak down her cheek.

"Yeah, Lil," I said as drew up my sleeve over my thumb and wiped it against her tear-stained cheek, "I think she misses you a whole heap."

"Then why hasn't she called?"

"Maybe because she's waiting for you to."

"But it's her fault."

"Well, if you keep thinking like that, then you two are going to keep fighting for a very, very long time." This of course was the completely wrong thing to say as Lil burst into tears once more.

"Aw, come on, Lil. You know what I mean. Look, you're both just being stubborn and one of you has to be the bigger person in this and apologise, no matter whose fault it is." She regarded me for a long moment before muttering, "I'll think about it."

"Look, it's not like she's going to forget you, Lil. You've been best friends for eight years. That's a lot of history and emotions there. Just give each other time to calm down and think it all through and before you know it, you'll be friends again."I tried to sound cheery and positive, but cheery and positive isn't really my thing. Not that I'm dark and depressive, I'm not. I'm just not very good at making people feel better, I'm usually too logical and honest and that usually just ends up making people feel worse.

Lil just looked at me with sceptical eyes but overall seemed to accept what I was saying without too much complaint.

We sort of sat there in silence, waiting for dinner to arrive. When it did, Lil turned to me and said.

"I'm still right."

"Of course you are, Lil." I said rolling my eyes before grabbing her around the waist, throwing her squealing over my shoulder and walked out of my bedroom with her laughing and screaming at me to put her down with our parents looking on in stunned amazement. Probably because Lil and I haven't shown real sibling affection since she was like ten years old.

I do love my sister, even when she does make it as hard as hell to do so, I still love her and honestly I wouldn't trade her in for anything in the world.

Well…

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>This chapter was interesting to write. I always kind of wondered why Michael logged off quite abruptly during his and Mia IM chat because clearly more could have been said on both sides during the this conversation and yet, Michael leaves it quite out of the blue (well, so I thought at least), so in this I gave the reason as to why. Family problems! And Lil needing her big brother for support and someone to talk to. I've read a number of times, on various sites and from Meg at sometime or other, that despite Lil's and Michael's almost constant bickering, they're actually quite close, so I sort of wanted to show that in this chapter and also show what was always sort of hinted at during the series but never really explored as much as it possibly could of with Lil and Mike's Parents trying to Pyschoanaylse them all the time and I wanted to show that in this chapter and possibly others how much it gets on Lil's (and Michael's) nerves and how Lil possibly became the way she did in later books. I still don't like her but I'm trying to flesh out her reasons for being the jerky, b!tch we all know she is.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Well so much for my talk with Lilly last night. She is still not talking to Thermopolis and left purposefully early this morning so as to avoid catching a lift with Thermopolis in her limo, which arrived five minutes after Lil had left.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at this. The ridiculousness of these two! Their first real fight and it was already so obviously that they wanted to get back to being best friends again but their silly pride was the only thing that was stopping them from doing so.

But anyway, today was my first day of tutoring Thermopolis in Algebra during G&T.

She really is terrible at it, but that might be more due to the fact that she scribbles her notes in basically any book she has on hand so that she then can't keep track of them later on and then precedes to get confused.

She also seems to have trouble concentrating.

But then again so was I.

It has been quite awhile since I had been this close to her, with her scent filling my nostril full of strawberries and roses. And her hair looks even better up close; I seriously do not understand what the whole fuss about it was because personally I think she looks great.

Anyway, clearly her feminine wiles have been working their magic on me because even though I was finding it hard to tutor her in actual maths, I found myself, my body and head, relaxing to her presence.

As soon as I sat down beside her and her scent and shy smile hit me, I found myself suddenly being completely comfortable with her and even making bold moves like grasping her hand to take her pencil away from her when she subtracts wrong and saying "No, like this Mia."

I was even calling her by her first name! Something that I haven't done in months! And yet it fell from my month as naturally as breathing when I'm not fighting it.

Plus she kept smiling at me whenever I called her 'Mia', so…

I could feel Lil glaring at us or rather at me.

She probably thinks in that warped little head of hers that I've somehow betrayed her as her brother by "befriending" her ex-best friend. But I don't remember her saying anywhere that I couldn't, so… yeah, I know I am so living on the line right about now. But to tell you the truth at the moment I really don't care. Especially after the electric shock that I just received when I bumped my leg accidently against Mia's knee.

Pure accident, I swear, but I might possibly do it more often because I felt her jump when I did it but she didn't pull away, which I'm taking as a positive.

Everything was going pretty well, I had straighten out where she was going wrong with her note-taking and got her concentrating on some fairly simple Algebra exercises that I had gone through very thoroughly with her before I got her doing them.

Looking over her shoulder I could see she was doing the equations more or less right, she was only missing little steps here and there, more over all, she was a fast learner and was picking up on her mistakes when she looked back over her equations and fixing them up.

Yes, she's not very good at maths, but the main reason she is so bad at it is more to do with her lack of confidence than anything else. She has always not been very good at maths, so I guess in her head she assumes she always will be not good at maths, so whenever she is hit with something new in Algebra she just feels overwhelmed and not able to do it.

I had just gone over the exercises I had set out for her, showing her what steps she had failed to realise that she had missed and showed her little tips as to help her remember to put them in and just help her in Algebra overall, when there was a knock on the G&T door.

The whole room stopped what we were doing to look at the door. We so rarely ever have visitors. The only person whoever sticks their head, is Miss Hills and that's to yell at us for being too loud, before she retreats back to the Teacher's Lounge.

The kid who was standing there at the door was holding a pink hall pass and looking around the room kind of cautiously.

There are all sorts of rumours around AEHS about what really goes on in here. One rumour that seems to be particularly popular is that we're having a giant orgy in here.

"Uh, Amelia Thermopolis?" the kid asked still looking a little awkward as he looked around the room. The reaction in the room upon hearing Mia's name being asked about was a little odd. There were people like me who just stared at the kid as if he was nuts or something, because seriously, he had to be nuts because he obviously got the name on the slip wrong. But seriously how could he get Lilly Moscovitz mixed up with Amelia Thermopolis.

Anyway the rest of the room seemed to be suddenly overcome with the giggles as they all looked at Thermopolis in a knowing way. What the hell?

I looked back at Thermopolis only to see that her whole face had lost all of it colour and she looked like she had eaten a sock.

"I'm sure its…" I started but she just shook her head soundlessly.

"You have to go to the principles office." Now she looked like she was going to be sick, but she managed to stop herself from spewing projectile vomiting everywhere as she picked up her stuff, putting it into her bag and walking, I noticed that her hands were clenched at her side, yet her fist still appeared to be trembling as she took the pink slip from the kid and they both left the room.

"What," I started slowly, "the – hell?"

And those were apparently the only words that needed to be said before the whole room just about exploded with the explanation for Mia's summoning to the Gupta's office.

"You weren't in the caff at lunch, were you?" a tenth grade asked excitedly. I shook my head. I had been in the Front Office helping to fix their ever faulty server.

"She coned Lana Weinberger." The tenth grade informed me with this wide grin that nearly split his face.

"She what?"

"She coned Lana with a Nutty Royale." I felt my mouth drop in disbelieve.

"Why?"

"She, Lana I mean, was picking on the Arab girl; you know the one with the bodyguard and always sits by herself?" Another kid explained and we all nodded, "well apparently Thermopolis took offence for the Arab girl and shoved the Nutty Royale right into Lana's chest."

"Made a royal mess of Lana's sweater." Someone said laughing hysterically.

"Lana lost her nuts over it." Another giggled.

I found myself rolling my eyes at their childishness and walked over to Lil who had been strangely quiet through all this. Probably peeved that Mia's spontaneous and impulsive action was receiving way more attention than her carefully planned out boycott against the Hos.

"So, what happen?" I asked coming to sit at her table.

"How should I know?" She snapped at me angrily. I tried not to sigh; I mean seriously, could my sister try just a little better to hide her jealousy?

"Come on, Lil, this is getting stupid." She glared at me and to my surprise so did the violin kid, who've I've noticed these last couple of days has been following her about quite a bit and in not the same way that all her supporters followed her about.

I eyed him suspiciously for a moment before turning my attention back to Lil.

"Lil, just say your sorry and be done with it."

"Lilly doesn't have to say sorry for only trying to help. It is Mia's own fault for not accepting the help that Lilly so graciously held out to her." this was said by the violin kid, who I just stared at for a long moment before saying through somewhat gritted teeth.

"I don't believe I was talking to you. So how bout you get back in the closet and play your violin while I talk to my sister privately." He seemed to actually grow pale at this, which I was pleased to see, though less pleased when Lil kicked me in the shin.

"Michael don't be rude to my boyfriend." She snapped at me.

"You keep kicking me like that and I'll be more than rude to him… wait, what?" the light blub in my head finally flickered on and I stared at them, open mouth and gapping.

"WHAT?" I hadn't meant to yell but seriously, what the fuck! When did this freaking happen?

"Oh Michael, grow up." Lil snorted and I just went back to gapping at her. My little sister… My three year younger baby sister has a boyfriend! Her first ever boyfriend and I hadn't even a clue…!

"You have a boyfriend and you didn't tell me?" I demanded. She just looked back at me as if I were mental or something.

"Oh and like you tell me everything about your love life." She snorted. I stared at her, oh god, did she know? She couldn't possibly know! Right? Right?

And she has a boyfriend!

And it this guy!

I looked him up and down, assessing him in a way that seemed to make him really nervous though I really couldn't care less because he was going out with my little sister and he didn't even ask my permission to do so! What a little twerp!

"Uh, Lilly." He started edging away from my glare.

"What Boris? Oh for god sake." I felt something incredibly hard hitting my shin causing me to groan loudly in pain.

"Fuck, Lil! What was that for?"

"For eye stripping my boyfriend. Oh and for also betraying me."

"I was doing no such fucking thing to him. And what betrayal?"

"You were sitting with her!" she came close to yelling at me now.

"And helping her with her Algebra!" I snapped back at her angrily. She just gave me a 'sure, sure' look that just made me want to strangle her more.

"Since when have you cared to help anyone with their homework?" Lilly demanded.

"Since I have nothing else better to do with this period, that's when." And since I decided that I did want to become closer to Thermopolis.

"What do you mean you have nothing else better to do with this period? You could be over here helping me stop racism."

"Yeah and also help inflate you ego, which between us Lil, your ego doesn't need any more inflating since it is already making you miss the bigger picture here." With that, thank god, the bell rang and I was able to avoid Lil screeching that I was a supporter of racism, that I was a cruel, traitorous brother and yada yada. Whatever, moving on.

I'm always one of the first people to arrive at Trig, I don't know why. It's not like I walk particularly faster for this class than any of my other. It might be that everyone else in class walks particularly slow for it, since it is maths and maths for some absurd reason causes most of the student body to hold a strong dislike towards it.

I was already seated with my notebook and Trig book out and even looking over the next chapter that we were going to start today when I heard the sound of laughter from just outside the room. Oh wonderful, Backstreet Boy Clone and his cronies had arrived. Oh joy!

"What do you mean by little?" I pulled a face. I seriously did not want to know what Bryan Roberson was on about because it honestly could only be vulgar.

"The kid is a flipping giant. She is like, what? Five foot nine or something?" What, the?

I looked up at them for a brief second before looking away. What did I care if they were making fun of some poor love-sick fan girls of theirs? But… five foot nine?

"I don't think he was talking about her height." Matt Williams said as he shoved by me to get his seat in the back row. Ok, could they be any more crude? Actually, yeah, they could. But seriously, couldn't they just leave the poor kid, whoever she was, alone?

"Is it just me or do freshman's seem to be getting flatter in the chest department with every year?" Ok, now I started getting a bad, knowing feeling as to who the girl they were talking about might be. I mean, she did just cone Backstreet Boy Clone's girlfriend.

"I think she's just a special case." It was her, it had to be. Why else would Josh Richter be caring enough to listen and participate in a conversation about a freshman with basically nothing in the chest department?

I pulled a face at that. She is just fine how she is. What right did they have to say that she was a 'special case'?

Without thinking, I lifted my head and just glared at him, the Backstreet Boy Clone, who I know saw me, but simply ignored me.

Which is normal since Josh and I were never destined to be friends and he hates the fact that I have beaten him in basically every single class (except Gym, but still I do put some effect in during our endurance tests and so on) for the last four years.

He might be a Backstreet Boy Clone and Jock, but he also quite smart, and he's been one of the main factors that have stopped me from becoming bored in class. Just the look of annoyance and at times fury when he finds out that I've yet again obliterated him in a test or an assignment or whatever makes all the long boring hours worthwhile.

Patterson, our Trig teacher, once he was sure that we were all seated and had our notebooks and textbooks out (He, at times, seems to forget that we're senior and still treats us as freshman, sometimes even younger if he's in a particularly foul and forgetful mood.) started talking about the new chapter that we were starting today, but I suddenly found myself no longer interested in it, now straining my ears to hear what Backstreet Boy Clone and his cronies were talking about.

"So what are you going to do?" I heard Matt ask Josh in a hushed voice so as to not bring attention to them.

"About what?" oh the bright side, at least Josh sounds bored, though if he was already bored of our new chapter or the incident between Mia and Weinberger I wasn't sure.

"About what the freshman freak did to your girlfriend? I mean, it was funny and everything, I mean…" I heard Matt stutter and I guessed that Josh had glared at him or something, which just made my heart constrict a little. If Josh glared that means he must care about what happen between Mia and Weinberger, which means… "I mean it wasn't. Funny, that is. Are you going to make her pay or something. The freshman? Are you going to make her sorry for making your girlfriend the laughing stock of the Caff?" I felt sick, right to my gut because I was well aware of what these guys were capable. They would, if Josh so wished it make Thermopolis's life a living hell. It was bad enough that she had already made an enemy of Weinberger basically from the moment that they met, but if she made an enemy of Josh and his group… I shuddered to think what kind of crap they'd happily put her through to get their 'revenge'.

"Dude?" Josh was obviously thinking hard about what Matt had said.

"Nothing." My heart did a funny jolt. Wait what? "Lana will go to Gupta and that's that. She's probably get suspended anyway. Why get myself into trouble over something like this when the kid is probably going get a week's detention or a suspension anyway. Seriously it's not worth my time." Not worth his time. I don't think I've ever heard such words that have filled me with such joy and delight. It wasn't worth his time to mess with her! YES!

The relief flowing through me was almost indescribable. The thought of her having to deal with both Lil's crap and theirs, plus whatever else was bothering her in her life at the moment had made my stomach turn, but he wasn't interested, it wasn't worth he's time, she was going to be left alone.

I think I was grinning for the rest of the day, simply from the relief of this knowledge.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>As you probably notice, those of you who have read my fic _'To Score A Princess' _(those who haven't don't worry about it, but if you would like to that would be great. It's basically Princess Diaries from Josh's POV)_, _I have now interwine it into this fic. Of course I won't have every chapter of TSAP appearing in this because Michael only appears at certain times during, but all the times that he does appear, I will be writing in from his POV in this, so yeah, that should be fun and interesting.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

I really, really dislike gym.

I don't mind working out, funnily enough I actually do like running and lifting weights… but in the privacy of my own room or around central park with just my dog for company, not in a room with twenty-five other people, boy and girl, most of whom I dislike and who dislike me back.

I only have one friend in this class, which is Felix but he rarely ever turns up.

He turns up for English and Chemistry and then just disappears during our gym hour to only then reappear again when we have French (French, argh, I hate it.)

Today however he is actually here but he's asleep on the bleachers so it hardly counts.

I seriously need new friends. Ones that don't feel the need to get stoned in-between class simply because they're bored.

No, seriously that is really the only reason Felix gets stoned, not because he has some tragic family history or bad relationship with his parents or anything like that, he just gets bored and so to pass the time, he gets stoned.

Maybe I should book him into to see Mom and Dad, see if they can scare him into straightening himself out. They're surprisingly good at that, scary people into not doing drugs. I don't think Lil and I will ever be doing them thanks to that wonderful afternoon that our parents sat us down and told us exactly what they would do to us if they ever found out we were doing them.

Still, I wonder what he'd do if I pegged my book at him right now. Would he wake up as this Zombie who I could set of Backstreet Boy Clone and his cronies just to see what would happen, or would he roll over and go back to sleep. Sadly, it'd probably be the latter, knowing Felix. Sleep is his best friend next to drugs.

Argh, why can't I just take his example and skip one of these torture sessions? Oh, because I want to get my hands on the complete collected works of Isaac Asimov that Library is going to sell at the end of the school year at the used-books sale and if I skip gym, I'll get demerit points meaning that I will lose my discount for the sale.

Geez, the things I do just to get my hands on a couple of books.

"Oi Moscovitz!" Oh great. I looked up from my book to see Wheeton lumbering towards me.

"Moscovitz, put the bloody book down, get your arse into gear and do something, I don't give a fuck what, just make sure that its gym related! Same goes for you Parker!" he roared at Felix, who opened one eye to stare lazily back at Wheeton before making an elaborated show of waking up.

I rolled my eyes at the dramatic of my friend, my best friend… what does that say about me? I have a crush on my three year younger little sister's best (ex-best?) friend who I've known since she was six years old and my best friend is a pothead.

"What an arse." Felix said with a yawn as he came to stand by me, tossing me a basketball as he did so.

"You only just figured that out?" I asked dribbling the basketball by my feet. Hey, it gym related.

"No, but it's usually you he just has a go at, me he usually leaves alone." I rolled my eyes even though it's true. Wheeton has never liked me and I have never really been a huge fan of his in return. He seems to have some aversion to books, school books or otherwise.

I looked longingly back at the Roger Zelazny novel that I had left on the bleachers. It was just getting good too!

"The freakishly tall freshman," huh? "the one who coned Lana yesterday." My head snapped in the direction of Matt Williams voice.

I hadn't realised we were standing so close to Backstreet Boy Clone and his cronies.

I couldn't help but frown. I mean, seriously, hadn't they decided yesterday that they were going to leave Mia alone? Why were they bringing her up again?

I saw that Josh had noticed me scowling; giving me a quizzical look in return before turning his attention back to the basketball that he was about to throw threw the basketball hoop. Saying as he did so, "Yeah, what about her?"

"Her locker is right next to yours." Wait, what? What the hell were they on about now? I mean, yeah I knew that Mia's locker was right next to Josh's but why were they bringing it up for? I mean, Josh had to have known right? Or… possibly not, it is after all, Josh.

"Is it?" Ok, so he didn't know. And for some reason that pissed me off.

"What's the matter?" Felix asked looking at me weirdly.

"Nothing." I muttered bouncing the basketball a little more vigorously.

"Yeah, I think you're right. She's always hanging around your locker like a little lost puppy-dog or something." She does not! I felt like yelling back at them.

"Yeah, sure its nothing. You need to stop getting so upset about every little comment that is directed in your girl's direction, it's gonna make people wonder and do you seriously want her to find out about your...achem… slightly more friendly feelings towards her from someone else?" Felix asked.

"No…" wait… oh shit.

I stared at him in disbelief causing him to laugh at laugh me.

"Mike, I've known you since the sixth grade, I do pick up on these sorts of thing from you, you know."

"How long have you known?" I hissed at him. He laughed.

"Long enough to watch you make an idiot of yourself around her."

"Great. Just great!" I muttered. I could hear Josh laughing about something. Something about Mia and her chest or rather lack of chest… Ok, that's it!

"Mike…" Felix started saying slowly, but I ignored him as I raised the basketball that I had previously been simply bouncing and hurled it at Josh's head. And it hit him, hard but I didn't stand around to allow myself too much satisfaction from what I had just done. I knew that if I did stick around I would inevitably punch the Backstreet Boy Clone in the face.

So without looking back, I stalked out of the gym to the change rooms, leaving an extremely amused Felix behind me.

I change quickly out of my gym gear, shoving them to the depth of my bag before sneaking off to hide on the third-floor stairwell until it was time to go for Chem.

I seriously don't understand why the teachers never patrol this area because seriously they must know by now that this is a skipping class hiding place by now, right?

Obviously not because I spent the rest of the period sitting up there, wishing that I had used my brains and thought to grab my book before I stalked out of gym. I was praying that Felix would use his brain and rescue my book for me.

He did and as well as proceeding to tell me that Josh was absolutely furious about what had happen but wasn't completely sure I was the one who pegged the ball at him and that Wheeton was about ready to decapitate me for skipping class.

I shrugged; I mean it was worth it, in a lot of ways. I was of course going to have to watch my back extra carefully over the next few weeks, but that's fine, I'll just stick to the library and the computer rooms where Josh and his group are never going to come treading.

"You must really like her a lot." Felix said softly as we walked for Chem. I shot him a warning look, to which he threw up his arms in a 'no offence' gesture. "I'm just saying…"

"Well, don't say because there is nothing to say." I snapped at him.

"Sure, so you peg Josh Richter in the head with a basketball every time he insults a lowly, flat-chest freshman." I glared at him and he chuckled.

"Look, you and I both know you have feelings for her…" I opened my mouth to argue but he waved me off. "So why not just get it over and done with and ask her out." I started gagging causing several people in the corridor to look at me weirdly, including Judith who also looked curious but I ignored her to dive into Chem with Felix following close behind me.

I grabbed a bench at the far, far back of the room, full well knowing that Felix wasn't about to drop this anytime soon.

"I can't." I grumbled at him. He looked back at me with interest. Actually I don't remember seeing him look this interested about anything since Firefly was cancelled. Maybe there is a reason behind his drug use after all. He's depression over Firefly being cancelled.

Hey, was it possible to use that as a way of convincing Fox to un-cancel the show or at least give us a movie to wrap up all of Josh Whedon loose ends and I mean, all of them. That'd take like five movies!

"Why not?" Felix asked patiently.

"Because," I said slowly and carefully because Judith was sitting not to far away from us with Paul and they were both looking at us curiously, "she is my little sister's best friend." I couldn't be bothered explaining to Felix that technically they weren't actually "best" friends anymore because of their fight.

"So?"

"So?" I growled back.

"What? Is there some unwritten rule in the Brother/Sister handbook that says that they can't date the best friend of their sibling?"

I didn't respond for a moment.

"She's three years younger than me."

"Again, so? Josh is dating Weinberger and she's a freshman."

"It's not the same." I said groaning, pressing my forehead against the science bench.

"Because you really like her right?" Felix asked.

"Yes." I said it so softly that it came out as a whisper.

"Then ask her out. She probably say yes."

I gave a 'what-the-fuck' look.

"Oh come on. She's been crushing on you for years; you were just too much of a dope to notice."

"No she hasn't – I mean, no, not years – I would have – and Lil defiantly would have – that's not possible." I finally stuttered out.

"Yeah, it is. Seriously, she'll say yes."

"No she won't."

"Why not?" Felix actually sound exasperated with me.

"Because I've been a complete arse to her for the last six to eight months! Plus she likes Josh."

"School girl crush, she'll get over." He said waving his hand, like what I had just told him meant nothing at all, "And, you know, probably the only reason she started crushing on him is because, as you so graciously put, have been such an arse towards her, her affection changed because at least with Josh she knows she hasn't got a hope in hell of going out with him."

"Is this supposed to make me feel better?" I asked looking at him sceptically.

"Look, at least you've turn over a new leaf right? I mean, you're tutoring her now right?"

"And I'm siding with her in her and Lil's fight." I said with shrug.

"They're fighting?" Felix asked looking mildly surprised. I waved him off.

"I'll explain later. But how is this…"

"Helping? Look, it'll put you back in good graces with her."

"I suppose." I said slowly.

"So just ask her out!"

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because… what the hell am I suppose to say? Hey Thermopolis, even though I've been a complete arse to you these last few months I was wondering if you want to go on a date with me." I looked at Felix completely deadpan as I said this. He simply rolled his eyes.

"Just ask her what's she doing of Saturday night."

"Why?" I asked confused, "what's happening Saturday night?"

"You really are out of the school spirit loop aren't you? It's the Cultural Diversity Dance Saturday night."

"It is?" this was news to me; wait or maybe it wasn't…

"Yeah, it is. So ask her to that, it'll be a good starting point. I mean, you don't even have to ask her like its a date or anything, just ask if she's going and, if she says she is but is going alone, which is a given," I glared at him warningly but he continued none the less, "then ask if you want to hang out together at it. And then at the dance do so. Simple. You might even get a dance with her if you play your cards right"

I just stared at him.

"Can't I just ask her if she wants to come over to mine for a Star Wars Marathon?" I asked or rather whined.

"You really are the most unromantic guy on the planet, you know that right?" Felix snorted.

"Yeah and like your one to talk. Didn't your last girlfriend dump you, while slapping you repeatedly across the face, for hitting on her cousin?"

"You wound me, Mate." Felix said, pulling a hurt expression.

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll pull through." I said crankily.

"Don't ask her like that."

"Like what?" now I felt exasperated.

"Like that! All cranky-like or she'll defiantly say no."

"Thanks." I said sarcastically, filling my insides do several flips and somersaults at the thought of actually asking Mia out.

I mean, yeah I suppose the dance ( which I had never planned of going to and not just because Gupta has told the computer club that we couldn't have booth there because the internet is not a culture so the whole club has decided to boycott it, but mainly because dances have never interested me. The few I've gone to, I've usually sat at a table either by myself or with other nerds like me talking about Star Trek or Buffy and I can do that at home with IM easy enough already.), is I suppose a good way to start and asking her to go with me not as a date but rather as a someone to just hang out with there actually doesn't sound like a bad idea.

Now, I just had to figure out a way of asking her with embarrassing us both to death or rather a way of keeping Lil from beating us both to death.

"You're going to be stewing over this for awhile, aren't you?" Felix asked.

I just nodded my answer as I stared hard at the front of the classroom, the wheels in my brain turning over this new and interesting problem in my life.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Three chapters uploaded all at once. Hope you enjoyed them. Reviews are much appreciated. They don't have to be long or anything, a simple 'this was a cool chapter' would be just if you want to tell me what you think or have any _helpful_ criticism, I would love to hear them too.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** Yes, a new chapter. I think that this is one of the funnier chapters in this fic so far, Michael trying to ask Mia out for the first time, hehehe and failing miserably, which he does so well, lol.  
>I improvised a little with this chapter, I built more on to Michael's and Mia's original conversation, plus a bit of pure fanfiction at the end, that those who have read My fanfic TSAP (To Score A Princess) will recognise. As I said before all the moments in which Michael appears in that fic, those same moments will occur in this one too, just from Michael's POV.<strong><br>**

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

I never realised just how hard it is to ask someone you really, really like out.

Ok, even if it is only to hang out at a school dance because all her other friends have been paired off, leaving her (I hope) all by herself with no one to talk to.

I mean, even Lil has a date to the dance. The violin kid asked her to it.

I seriously don't see it. I mean, he looks like he could be broken in half by the smallest gush of wind and yet he's going out with my sister…

I don't get it.

Anyway, as I showed her how to carry over her fractions, I complimented her on her handling of the Weinberger Incident, as it was now being called in the corridors.

She went a little red in the face and looked torn between being quite pleased with herself and being embarrassed and ashamed for what she did.

"How did you hear about it?" She asked looking puzzled, like she had coned Lana in private and not in front of the whole Caff.

"It was kind of hard not to hear about it. It's all over the school, after all." I explained watching her cheeks grow redder in shade as she mumbled a soft "oh."

"It's rather impressive, what you did. Not many would have the guts to decimate Weinberger in front of Josh Richter." Her cheeks grew somehow even more flushed but not, to my delight, because I said Backstreet Boy Clone's name but rather she was just shy that what she had done to Lana was being described like that around the school.

"It wasn't like that. She was just being mean to Tina and I don't know…" she smiled a little shyly up at me, like she herself couldn't quite believe what she had done.

"Still," I said with a casual shrug, "it's impressive, though," I looked at her questioningly, "you're not being picked on about it though, are you? For coning Lana?" she shook her head and I felt relief flow through me that is until she said, "Nope. I mean, no more than usual."

I felt annoyed then.

Not at her but rather for her because she sounded so nonchalant about it, about the fact that she is pick on and daily at that and the fact that the teachers here are doing absolutely nothing about it. I mean, it's not like they don't see it. I know they do and on several occasion at that but they've just let it slide because it Lana against Mia. If it's Lana against Lil, that's a completely different matter entirely and they step in quick as anything to make sure Poor Lana isn't hurt or upset by Lil, never even bothering to ask why Lil had started in on Lana in the first place. This place is seriously messed up and the sad thing is; I know it's the same everywhere else.

I tried to lighten the mood by asking her; "Your locker is right next to Josh's, isn't it?"

How that was suppose to lighten the mood, I have no idea because from what I've gathered it is there, in Mr G's classroom and the girl's change room where Mia is teased by Lana the most.

"Yeah, it is." She said with another nonchalant shrug that made me feel happier than it probably really should but seeing her indifferent about Josh just about made my day.

"That must be awkward." Because I know that Josh and Weinberger indulge in a very strict make-out schedule in the morning, that takes place right at his locker, blocking Thermopolis's locker in the process.

"Not really. Lana is avoiding that area today and Josh doesn't speak to me unless to ask can he get by." She didn't sound down about that, just accepting it as the status quo, I suppose. I just wished she didn't have such a low regard for herself.

I was about to ask if she was grounded for her coning of Lana when she stopped me by asking; "Is Lilly still saying mean things about me?"

I sort of stared at her, a little taken aback by her question because she asked it with this sort determine little face and her lips pulling themselves into a pout as she waited for my answer. I fought back a sigh, this was so not how I wanted this conversation to go, but…

"She never said mean things about you." Ok, maybe not _never_, but I didn't want to upset her and surprisingly enough I really do want these two to become best friends again, even though I know it'll make my trying to ask Thermopolis out even harder because my sister would always be in the road, but even so, I want them to be friends again because it is so obvious how much this fight is hurting both of them. It just their stupid prides that are stopping them both from apologizing to each other. "She just doesn't understand why you blew up at her like that." I could because I could understand how Lil's remarks could and a lot of the time are taken the wrong way. Lil doesn't go out of her way to hurt people, she really does think she is helping people, it just when she is trying to "help" them she generally just upset them.

"Michael, she is always putting me down!" like that. A perfect example of Lil tyring to help but really is just making the person feel worse about themselves. "I just couldn't take it any more. I have too many other problems without having friends who aren't supportive of me."

I laughed when she said that. I couldn't help it. What sort of problems could she possibly have? I asked her that to before remembering that hey, she did have problems that she was obviously trying to deal with such as things with her Dad and possibly her grandmother.

I wished I kept my mouth shut when I saw her look back at me, looking more than a little defensive and with a 'what-would-you-know' expression written all over her face.

I was pretty sure she was going to shut me out for good for sure this time. But she didn't, at least not completely.

I knew that she was hiding stuff when she rattled off a few of her problems; flunking algebra (though not for long cause I was determined to at least get her to C+ or possibly a B- before we went out for Christmas/Winter break) and the fact that she saw Mr G at her table, having breakfast with her mom and only wearing boxer shorts.

I once more fought back the desire to not laugh at her. Instead I said, "Ok, ok, I guess you do have a few problems." I just wished you were more honest with me on what is really bothering you. But I didn't push it and so we did a few more equations, ignoring Lil's icy glare as we did so before I finally built up the guts to ask; "So are you grounded?"

She looked at me strangely and yeah, I guess it was rather random.

"You mean for getting detention?" she asked and I nodded, crossing my fingers under the desk. "No, of course not." Though she did sound a little surprised that she hadn't been. "My mom is totally on my side. My dad wants to sue the school." For giving his daughter detention? That's a little extreme. Sounds like something Lana's Dad would do, not Thermopolis's but then I can't really say for sure because I've never met the man and only talked to him on the once, so… Anyway, that is so not the point. Just spit out already.

"Oh. Well," Spit it out Moscovitz! "I was wondering because, if you aren't busy Saturday, I thought maybe we could – "

"Alright all of you listen up. You see these questionnaires I'm holding? Yes? Good, pass them along and fill them out." Mrs Hill ordered, handing out two takes of papers on each side of the room. I felt winded, completely and utterly winded.

"What are they for?" I heard Lilly demanded; she never does questionnaires unless she feels that they are worth her while. She usually adds stuff to her questionnaire question too.

"It's for my PhD on urban youth violence." She interrupted me for that! You have got to be kidding me!

I slumped back in my chair, staring ok, miserably at the back of Mia's head because she had stopped looking at me the moment Mrs Hill walked into the room.

"But we're hardly qualified to comment, seeing as how the only youth violence that any of us have seen is at a sale for relaxed fit jeans at…" Oh just shut up, Lil. No one cares!

I thought maybe, just maybe, I had managed to build up the guts in time to ask her again after G&T but she bolted from the room before I could even get one word out.

Fuck! Felix has this so wrong!

He's a bloody pothead, why the hell did I ever listen to him? I swear I'm going to strangle him once I got to History this afternoon.

I was late for Trig, I guess I stood watching Mia bolt down the corridor for longer than I thought because I only just arrived upon the second bell and most of the class was already seated with their books out.

I could feel Backstreet Boy Clone watching me curiously, possibly a slight smirk playing on his features, but I really couldn't care less. Though punching him did sound like a reasonably good idea, certainly a nice way to vent some of my frustration.

"What's the matter? You get rejected by a girl or something?" Oh please let me punch him! Please, please, please.

Instead, I forced myself not to look at him, to not say anything to him as I took my seat… and that is basically as far as I got.

I sort of managed to cross my arms on top of my desk before my head thumped down on top of them.

And this is how I stayed the whole time during Trig. Patterson, I guess this once, since normally I am the one he counts on for answering some of his more absurd questions, decided to cut me some slack and didn't call me up on my lack of paying attentionness. Attentionness, it's a word… well, now it is.

When classed ended I just want to race to history and strangle Felix only to be stopped in my 'must-kill-Felix' death plan by Josh Richter.

Ah, come on, today was just not my day!

"What?" I asked, feeling tired and resigned. I just wanted to leave, what was he's problem anyway… oh yeah, I did kind of peg that basketball at his head this morning, didn't I?

Ooosp.

"You looked depressed," Wait, what? Maybe the basketball to his head knocked a few screws loose in his brain.

"And you care _because_…"

"No reason really, just wondering if it was something to do with that freakishly tall freshman." He said calmly, confidently and it made me feel sick. What did he want? And what did he mean by bring Mia up? I honestly don't get this guy.

He was watching my face, I realised too late when I saw the triumphant look appear on his face causing me to panic a little. What had I let slip? Please don't let him know about Mia! That would be bad. Really, really bad.

"Leave her alone." I said softly. I really, strangely enough, didn't care if he and he's cronies tried to mess with me, it was them messing with Mia that I cared to stop. I would do anything in my power to keep them away from her.

"Why? She's cute?" Wait, what the… I felt like he had punched me, right in the gut and that was leaving me winded. Did he just say that Mia was… _cute_?

"I was actually thinking of asking her out." Ok, now I'm going to be sick. If he asked her out, she would say yes, wouldn't she?

She would. She chose him over me as her post-nuclear Armageddon life mate. She would choose him over me if we both asked her out, I just know it.

Fuck…

"Leave her alone." Gods, just leave her the hell alone. "She's not some play thing like your little Weinberger follower. She's a human being, so just stay the hell away from her." I shoved pass him then, no longer able to stand his smug grin, like he knew something that I didn't. I knew that if I stayed a moment longer I would hit him. Seriously, I would.

I was half way down the hall when I saw her.

I thought she would ignore me or possibly simply just not see me, but she did. She was walking with her new Arab friend and as she walked past me she gave me this shy little smile and wave before hurrying into her next class.

I felt my previous bad mood evaporate and simply because she noticed my existence and acknowledge it with a smile and a wave.

My god, I seriously do have it bad!

I forgot to strangle Felix during history and I was in a fairly good mood for the rest of my afternoon classes.

After school, I went over to Mia's locker, I don't remember my excuse but it didn't seem to bother her that I was there talking to her about the latest episode of Buffy.

"I can't believe it's finishing." She was saying with this tiniest of pouts forming on her lips.

"I know." I agreed.

"I hope Willow doesn't go evil again."

"I doubt it. Willow has already been invited over the dark side, found that she had been tricked,n that there were after all no cookies and so returned to side of good and light and became the Willow we all know and love again."

"After she tried to destroy the world." Mia reminded me with a giggle.

I grinned in return even though I remembered her being particularly tearful during those episodes and me teasing her about it. She has always been a rather strong Willow Fan, gravitating more towards Willow than she did to Buffy and she always got quite upset both when Willow went super Dark Willow and when Willow and Oz broke up.

We got so sucked into our conversation that neither of us notice Josh Richter standing near us nor Lil trying to catch our attention (ok my attention)

"Michael," Lil started completely ignoring Mia's presence, as I was ignoring Josh's, "tell Mom and Dad I'll be home late tonight." I rolled my eyes and asked her, "You're not going to give this a rest are you?" in a sort of tired voice.

"No! I will not stand by and allow racism…" I threw up my hands, saying ok, fine but she so owes me. I got a firm kick to shins for that from my lovely little sister. She also ignored Mia's attempts to be nice to her, which actually annoyed me more than her actually kicking me. We watched her in silence as she stalked off.

"Just ignore her, Thermopolis. She'll get over it. She's just being her usual opinionated self. You know that she can't admit to being wrong, whatever would her devoted fans think if she ever did?" I said gently, noting the obvious hurt face on Mia's face. She gave a little sigh and nodding, saying, "Yeah, I know."

"Anyway," I had to try again, I had too. I just wished Backstreet Boy Clone would hurry up and clear off, but I couldn't wait til he had left because Mia was already ready to leave. "Listen," she looked up at me, her eyes curious. I took a deep breath.

"About Saturday…"

"I gotta go." She squeaked. She wasn't even looking at me anymore; she was looking at something that was happening behind me with panicking eyes.

She slammed her locker shut as I looked behind me to see what had freaked her out so and also what had once again interrupted my trying to ask her out.

It was big, burly bodyguard guy again.

He was walking down the hall towards us, his hand raised in a motion for Mia to follow. I was half tempted to grab her and demand to know who the hell this guy was and what the hell was going on. I mean, she seemed freaked out to see him here, though it was actually more of an embarrassed freaked out rather than scared.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She squeaked at me before bolting down the hall to meet Bodyguard guy with me staring after her, my mouth hanging open slightly. When they were both out of sight, I smacked my head against the lockers behind me. Well, that went well.

"Well, that went well." Oh great, Backstreet Boy Clone is still there and appears to be now able to read my mind. Fuck, I hate my life.

I rolled my head sideways to look at him. I couldn't even bring myself to scowl at him, my energy all used up in my try and failed attempt to ask Mia out. Instead I just muttered; fuck you, with the hopes that he fuck off. But he didn't, he stuck around to torment me some more.

"Do you always call her by her last name? Because seriously dude, that's not exactly spelling out that you like her. She's probably thinks that you call her that because you can just barely tolerate her." Wait, what? My head snapped back in his direction, my mouth hanging open as I digested his words. He was right, I mean what he said had a ring of truth to it and that made it all the more worse!

I somehow managed to regain some control over my face to scowl at him.

"She's my sister's best friend." I said in a low, even voice. "Leave her alone." I left after that, too annoyed and frustrated to put up with Josh any longer. I just needed to get out of there and clear my head and try and think of another way of getting close to her and asking her out because obviously I'm doing something wrong… or the universe hates me and wants to make me suffer for it's own amusement…. Yeah, that's probably it.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Yup, I was right. The universe seriously does hate me.

It s does not want me to go out with Mia, not in a hundred years. And it is pulling out all the stops to stop me from getting to go out on one date with her. You want to know how?

Hmmm, I'll tell you; the universe has made her, drum roll please… a Princess…

No joke, I'm being completely serious here.

The girl who has been my sister's best friend since the first day of kindergarten, who I taught how to ride a bike and how to defend herself during dodge ball (being tall, your usually a prim target through the game). The girl I introduced to Buffy because she couldn't sleep and Lil wouldn't wake up, not matter how much Mia poked her. The only friend of my sister's who I have actually liked from basically the moment that I met her (ok, and granted that the first time she slept over at ours and was asked what she would like to watch, she immediately said Star Wars also didn't hurt my growing like for her.) and now it's being revealed that she's a _Princess_!

I basically grew up with this girl and I had no idea that she was a royal!

Neither did it appear did my parents as dad proved by almost choking this morning on his coffee as he open the _Post_.

"Morty, what on earth?" Mom started looking at Dad, as did Lil and I, in bewilderment. Still choking unable to speak he shoved the morning paper at us, where on the front page was a particularly pretty picture of Mia coming down the front steps of some fancy building (hotel?). She was smiling and dressed kind of… smartly?

That took a moment for me to click that it really was her, but then I heard Lil's in drawn breath and actually bothered to read what the article was about.

"Oh… my." Was all mom seemed to be able to say, while Lil and I read _Princess Amelia, New Yorks Very Own Royal._

"Ok-ay," I started slowly, "I guess that explains a lot." Well, it did sort of. She was a princess… No wonder she's been flipping out for the last couple of weeks.

I looked at Lil to see if this had softened her anger towards Mia… nope, if fact, I think I made it ten times worse.

She was almost purple in the face from her rage. Ignoring her pending explosion, I flipped the page over to read the "full, exclusive" story on page two, rolling my eyes at the title of the article. _Fairy Tale Comes True For One Lucky New York Kid_ by Ms. Carol Fernandez.

Oh yeah, Mia was going to love this.

To tell the truth, I was actually rather impressed by what I read in the article. I mean if any of its true, Mia's Dad is a pretty good ruler and Genovia is actually a pretty well off country, having to pay little to no taxes and having the highest Literacy rate in all of Europe.

"Lilly are you alright?" I was pulled from reading to see that Lil was still purple in the face and looked ready to throw a fit. Dad and I hastily started to shovel down our breakfast at break knot speed, but clearly not fast enough because she exploded before we were able to dash from the table.

"HOW COULD SHE NOT TELL ME!"

"Lilly," Mom said disapprovingly, "Lower your voice, there is no need to yell."

"SHE DIDN'T TELL ME! HOW COULD SHE NOT!"

"Well you haven't been the most supportive of friends of late." I pointed out, though really I don't know why I even bothered.

"THAT'S HER OWN FAULT! AND SHE SHOULD HAVE STILL TOLD ME ABOUT THIS!"

"When you're not talking to her, even when she did try to say hi to you?" I knew I was throwing myself, head first, to the sharks, but seriously, how could I not? When my selfish sister is only thinking about herself in this and not how Mia probably feels about all this.

"Lilly, I'm sure Mia was going to tell you, she probably just didn't know when the right time was. And Michael might be right about your fight making Mia less than willing to share." Mom was saying patiently, using the voice that she uses on her patients. Which might work just fine on them but on Lil, it just makes her angrier.

But she seemed to be able to control her anger, long enough so as not to explode again until we were safely out of our parents' earshot.

"HOW COULD SHE!"

"Are you going to be like this all day?" I asked already feeling tired. She just glared back at me.

"How are you not upset about this?" she demanded. I just looked at her.

"Why should I be upset?"

"Because she lied to us! All this time, she's been keeping this from us."

"Did it ever occur to you that she might just have found out about her being a Royal? Heck that might be why her Dad is here, to tell her that she is."I pointed out. Lil just glared back at me, causing me to sigh heavily.

"Fine, be like that. See if I care." I said, putting my hands behind my head and started walking for the subway, which was same as usual, the pushing and shoving to get to the right train, and to get a seat on said train. But today there was something different, almost an air of excitement, which I soon saw the cause for.

Of course everyone was talking about her, wondering out loud how they had managed to keep it all hush hush. On particularly loud and rude old sod said that it was probably all kept quiet due to the fact that she was a bastard*.

I accidently purposefully trod on his foot as I struggled to find a seat.

I watch Lil sit as far away from me as she possibly could in the carriage, trying to ignore the general speculation around me. I could tell that today was going to be a long, long day.

School was even worse.

It was basically exploding with excitement, though most of the people who were babbling about didn't have a clue who Mia actually was.

I wondered if Mia would actually turn up today. I personally wouldn't blame her if she didn't. I personally wouldn't blame her if she didn't come back to school ever again!

But she did.

I saw her on my way to English.

And Josh Richter was talking to her which of course made my heart sink, but on the bright side at least she looked perturbed by him talking to her. I didn't stick around much though especially when he turned away and I saw that she was hyperventilating. Please, let that be from complete disgust and that you absolutely hate him and you're taking deep breaths because you've realised that you've somehow survived the horror of talking to him… somehow I highly doubt that that is the case though… fuck!

I slouched into English fighting back a groan as I realised that the excitement in here was almost as loud as out in the corridor.

I went to my seat, noting with some amusement that at least one person hadn't seemed to have completely lost it because of this sudden and unexpected news that a royal was going to our school. Felix was at the back of the class, feet on top of his desk, his arms behind his head, fast asleep.

God, even Mrs Weinstein has got the royal bug! She's gushing just as bad as the rest of them.

I rolled my eyes as I pulled out my books and pen, but once they were out I guess I sort of forgot how to use them. I sort of just stared at them, trying to remember, but thoughts like 'oh god, she's a flipping princess!' kept invading my head.

"So," a voice near by me asked, "Did you know?"

It took me a moment to realise that it was Josh who had spoken and another moment to realise that it was me that he was speaking too.

"Know what?" I seriously don't know why I answered him. I seriously don't. I heard him snort. Damn, why did he have to sit in front of me for? Was it to badger me? Great… just great.

"About the fact that your little sister's freakishly tall best friend was a freaking Princess?" My head snapped up, scowling at him, growling, "Stop calling her that!"

"What? She is freakishly tall." Completely beside the point and absolutely no reason to call her 'freakishly' anything. But I didn't say anything, just dropped my head back down, my eyes inspecting the suddenly interesting crude remarks that had been scratched in my desk over the years that it has been within the schools service.

"So did you know?" I looked back up at him, rolling my eyes.

"What do I need to do to get you to leave me alone? And her too?" I added as an afterthought, remembering him trying to chat her up in the corridor earlier.

"Did you know?" he repeated, sounding exasperated at _me_!

"No, I didn't." I replied, somewhat testily. I don't take well to being interrogated this early in the morning, so shot me. "Now, will you leave it?"

"No." Of course not, I thought with a groan as I smacked my head against my desk.

"I wonder why she kept it quiet. I mean, I wouldn't have been able to, if it were me." Oh wonderful, Judith's here. Why has she been hanging around so much of late?

… Wait, don't answer that. I don't want to know. Seriously, I don't.

I didn't lift my head off the desk, so instead Felix answered for me. I wasn't even aware he was listening.

"Maybe she was forced to sign a contract that if she told anyone about her being a Princess before a certain time, she would lose her throne and all her money and stuff." Which actually made a lot of sense now that I thought about it. I'd have to remember to throw that one a Lil this afternoon if she was still fuming over Mia's secretiveness. But even though I was agreeing with him in my head, another thought came to me and it just seemed more likely than that one.

"Or she just didn't want to tell." I don't know why, but for some reason, I just had a gut feeling that this was more likely the case.

"Why wouldn't she?" Judith asked looking more than a little bewildered at the idea of keeping your status as a royal a secret. Actually everyone who was listening in to conversation seemed to think the idea was ludicrous. Well, all except Felix who had appeared to have gone back to sleep again.

I sighed heavily, not really wanting to explain my view but I knew that if I didn't I wouldn't be left alone for the rest of the day.

"Because Mia doesn't like standing out, she likes to do her own thing but still remaining out of the spotlight. She likes being normal." I didn't mean to but as I was saying all this, I noticed my voice growing heavier and I think I might have even sounded a bit defeated. I guess I must have because I saw an almost triumphant flare to Josh's ridiculously blue eyes. I fought back to the desire to glare at him and growl at Judith to stop looking at me like that.

"But she isn't normal. Never was." Oh great, Matt Williams, has now joined the party. Someone please just shot me! This must be what going mad feels like. "She was always a freak. I didn't think that they were allowed to crowned freaks anymore." I don't know why, but something inside of me almost snapped as he said this.

I guess I was getting tired of hearing people, random, complete strangers insulting a girl that they didn't even know, who they would never know because they were too closed-minded and ignorant and so caught up in what they thought was "right", that they were never going to look past how they first perceive her, they are never going to bother to look any further than her tall, lanky form and awkward hair… and ok, her lack of chest. They're never going to see _her_.

And now because she is suddenly a Princess they all act as if they know her and have a right to judge her or consider themselves acquainted with her. And it makes me sick! It makes me want to punch something. They don't know her and they never will! So why the hell couldn't they just leave her the fuck alone!

"I'm sure she is a nice girl once you get to know her." Wait what? My head shot up from death glaring my desk to stare up at Josh again with a look of disbelief written all over my face. What did he just _say_?

"Huh?" I think several people all said as one.

"I'm sure she's a nice, normal girl really, she just hasn't had her chance show everyone who she really is yet." What – the – fuck? And thank god, for Felix!

"Yeah, the girl who shoved a Nutty Royale into your girlfriend's chest on Monday." Felix sniggered, once more wide awake and grinning widely at Josh. "I really have to find a way to shake her hand for that. Hey Michael," he gave my shoulder a light wack as he asked; "do you think you can arrange a royal meeting between my humble self and her Royal Highness." I actually couldn't help but smirk at that. I mean, yeah Felix can be a right pain in the ass at times, especially when he's high (especially when he comes to class high!), but a lot of the time he is a good friend and fun to be around. And he keeps me from making a complete ass of myself whenever I want to beat Josh bloody Richter into a Cream of Wheat. Like right then, what with his next comment.

"She might be too busy to deal with you commoners." My smirk immediately fell and I was once more glaring for all my worth back at him and saying something really, really stupid that even before I said it I could already hear Felix groaning.

"And she'll definitely be too busy to deal with a Jackass like you." I shot back at him.

The room went really quiet then, I hadn't realise just how many people had been listening in on our conversation, but a quick look around the room told me that it was now the whole class, including Mrs Weinstein, who I think for the first time that I've been in her class, actually looked worried. Like she thought a fight was going to break out or something. Actually it appeared the whole class was thinking something along those lines; half of the looking at us eagerly, like Matt and Bryan, while the other half, like Judith and Felix, looked wary and some were even edging away from us as if to give us more room to punch it out. Great, just great.

I looked back at Josh who was smirking, but you could tell he was pissed by what I had said. There was definitely murder in his eyes as he said calmly back to me "We'll see." Like he had already won or something.

Won her… No way, no way in hell. Over my dead body was he ever going to win her!

A guy like him does not deserve her! And her being a Princess does not change that.

I will not let him win her, even if it means stuffing up my own chances of being with her, will do everything in my power to keep him the hell away from her!

No power in the _verse_ can stop me.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Thanks for reading, hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please review.  
>Oh, and by the way, I've finished this fic, like I've finished writing it and everything. Is there anyone here interested in, if I do find the time to write them, reading book 2 &amp; 3 in Micheal's POV. I hoping to do a sort of CracKing Trilogy. I've sort of start writing book 2, so yeah. Anyway, let me know.<br>****Disclaimer: ****All Firefly referrences in this chapter belong to Joss Whedon.  
>*Bastard: the derogatory term for an illegitimate child, a child born to parents who aren't married<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: **I know, it's been awhile since my last update. Sorry about that, I've been at my Dad's and he doesn't have a particularly fast connection to the internet. So yeah.  
>By the way,I've started writing book 2 from Michael's POV, so far I've written Nine Chapters for it.<br>Hope you all enjoy this chapter and reviews are greatly appreciated. Thanks.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twelve<strong>

I kept an eye out for her all day, just making sure that she was ok, even though really what with her bodyguard (yeah, I was right about the big, burly guy that I've been seeing her with after school, he is a bodyguard, hers in fact) following her around everywhere.

At lunch she sat once more with the Arab girl. They seemed to be becoming fast friends, which is actually a talent of Mia's but because she is friends (or was friends) with Lil, most of the friends Mia made usually ended up being chased away by Lil after awhile.

The small group of friends that Lil and Mia are a part of, I'm pretty sure are only friends with Lil because Mia is. If Mia was/isn't friends with Lil, then they weren't, they'd all drift away, as they've obviously done now.

Anyway, Mia seems to be quite happy with her new friend, something I've noticed out of the corner of my eye from where I was sitting on the other side of the Caff with Felix and Paul, Lil wasn't too happy about.

She was basically death glaring Mia, though I'm not sure if it was for Mia not telling her she was a Princess or for Mia making a new friend… probably both. Lil is actually surprisingly (or not surprisingly) possessive of things, in particular Mia. Hence the whole chasing any newly made friends away, unless they hold some benefit for Lil, like the group of girls that she and Mia generally hung around with. I believe that each one of them have some part in Lil's show, though it's Mia and her that do the most of it.

But anyway, Mia looked happy and content enough at lunch, even though I know from Paul that she now knows that the whole school knows that she is a Princess. He saw her being sent to the Principles office when he was getting a late slip because he had been at his Dad surgery that morning, doing some job or other for him and he saw her (plus her dad) going in to Gupta's office and Mia coming out again looking rather pale and withdrawn. At least she's perked up now. She was laughing at something the Arab girl had said.

"So, have you asked her out yet?" Felix asked causing my eyes to rip themselves from staring at her… ok, ok, with some longing, I'm a dork; give me a break, to stare at Felix open mouthed. Could he say that any louder?

"Asked who out yet?" Paul said looking between us with fascination. "Wait? Mike likes someone?" He started laughing, Felix soon joining him.

"Shut up!" I snapped at them in annoyance. "And stop calling me 'Mike'! You know I hate being called that."

"Who does he like?" Paul asked Felix, completely ignoring me. I stared a Felix, trying to convey using my eyes that if he said a word I would kill him in the most creative of ways.

"The little Princess."

"I'm – going – to – ki…"

"Thought as much." Paul said returning to his burger, taking a huge bite out of it, not looking the least bit surprised by the news.

"Wha – ?" I said feeling a little weak in the knees. Did everyone know about my crush on Thermopolis… or whatever my thing for Mia was?

"How did you know? Or figure out or whatever?" Paul sort of shrugged at me.

"Can't really say; I guess I always kind of figured." He looked over at Felix who nodded in agreement with him. "Though, it was kind of hard to tell just how much you liked her. With her it was just obvious."

"What do you mean?" I demanded, trying not to gag.

"He didn't believe me when I told him that she's liked him for years and he was just being the special moron that he is and didn't notice." Felix explained to Paul who just nodded in a sort patronising, parental fashion, like I was some special case or something. Oh wait, according to Felix I actually was!

"Will you two stop that?" I growled.

"He's just upset that he missed the signs and could have possibly messed up his chances with her because her 'affections'," Felix shot me an amused looked, "have apparently switched over to Josh."

"Who has now taken an interest in her, for obvious reasons." Paul finished for him. I felt like strangling them both! "And he also knows that Mike likes her." he added causing both me and Felix to stare at him in confusion.

"Wait, what?"

"Justin told him." Paul explained.

"How the fuck would he know?" I demanded. Seriously did the whole flipping universe know about this?

"Well you did send that rather nasty virus to his computer a few years back." Felix reminded me calmly.

"I did?" Justin and I, like Josh and I, were never destine to be friends, so any incidents involving them I usually tried to delete from my memory, unless it involved them being hit in the head by basketballs or footballs, then I file them away for later, so that I can have a good laugh.

"Yeah, you did."

"Why?"

"I think he said something less than flattering towards your sister and Princess when they were like ten or something and so you took revenge for it by wiping out his hard drive or something." Felix gave a shrug while Paul looked at me with some awe.

"Remind me to never piss you off."

"Don't go after the Princess and you should be fine." Felix said, stretching his arms above his head.

"That doesn't mean that I like her." I grumbled.

"Fine, you're just overly protective of her and peg basketballs at people's heads whenever they insult her."

"What?" Paul asked laughing, "When did that happen? Who did he peg with a basketball?"

"Take a wild guess." Felix said grinning and Paul started laughing even harder.

"Yeah, yeah, I hate you both too!" I growl furiously at them. Thankfully the bell rang and I was able to escape them and spend a whole hour in Mia's presence.

"Why are you in such a hurry for?" Felix asked as I shot from my chair.

"He has G&T." Paul said grinning. A look of understanding crossed Felix face and soon I had both of them grinning at me with Cheshire Cat grins.

"Oh, give a rest already." I said, sighing.

"Have fun in G&T." they both called after me, causing me to stick my hand up behind me and give them a rude hand sign, which only made them laugh harder.

Because I rushed, I got to the G&T room before anyone else, though Mrs Hills was opening the door when I arrived so I didn't look like a complete dork for arriving early.

It didn't really matter though because everyone else arrived pretty soon after I did, Mia (and her bodyguard in tow) arriving not long after me and just after Lil and her boyfriend (yeah, still can't get my head around that one. And they're going to the Cultural Diversity Dance together! How does that even work? How can my sister, the girl that all guys are scared of, have at date to Cultural Diversity Dance. I mean, if Boris Pelkowski can ask my sister out and be her boyfriend, why the hell can't I do the same? Seriously!)

She came straight over to me, ignoring my sister's stares (or should it be glares?) and said, "Hi, Michael. I did all those problems you gave me." She said as she handed me the work sheet that I had given her on Monday for her to do. With a quick glance over I could see that she had done most of it right, only making a few little mistakes. "But I still don't understand why you couldn't just look at the train schedule to find out what time a train travelling at 67miles per hour will arrive in Fargo, North Dakota, if it leaves Salt Lake City at 7 a.m." I tried not to grin at what she was saying. It was so typical Mia.

Instead of commenting or explaining how that wasn't how she was suppose to approach the question, I went; "So. Princess of Genovia, huh?"

Her cheeks started to turn that lovely red colour that they do whenever she is becoming embarrassed. "Were you ever going to share that little piece of info with the group, or were we all supposed to guess?" I winced a little at my words, thinking that they might be taken as a little harsh, a little too sarcastic. But she seemed not to notice, focusing far too hard upon her shoes, her face an impressive red colour now.

"I was kind of hoping no one would ever find out." She admitted shyly, scuffing her shoe lightly against the table leg.

"Well, that's obvious." Ah, damn, still too sarcastic, tone it down Moscovitz, "I don't see why, though. It's not like it's a bad thing." Her head snapped up to stare up at me in surprise.

"Are you kidding me? Of course it's bad!" she squeaked sounding panicky.

"Did you _read_ the article in today's _Post_, Thermopolis?" Oh god and I'm back to calling her Thermopolis again! And in a way accusing her of not being able to read! Crap, this is so not going well. But once again she didn't seem to take offense to my words or tone. Instead she just shook her head, saying; "No way. I'm not going to read that trash. I don't know who this Carol Fernandez thinks she is, but - " I never heard what was to come after the 'but' (Yeah, yeah, grow up) for my darling sister decided then to interrupt.

"So you're not aware that the Crown Prince of Genovia – namely your father" I noticed Thermopolis wince a little at Lil's tone and I was too because my sister sounded like a complete snot as she spoke, like she was looking down upon Thermopolis like she was some lost cause or something, "has a total personal worth which, including real estate property and palace's art collection, is estimated at over three hundred million dollars?" Gee, Lil do you have to sneer like that? And ok, she obviously had read the article. I thought she hadn't due to being too busy screeching her head off this morning.

"Um…" I heard Mia say weakly beside me.

I looked at her face and saw it was torn between awe, clearly she hadn't realised her dad was worth that much, and hurt, obviously caused by Lil's attitude towards her. Lil seemed to be ignoring this however because she just kept on going.

"I wonder how much of that fortune was amassed by taking advantage of the sweat of the common labourer." Wait, what was she on about? Did we read the same article because it full well said that the Genovian people didn't pay income or property tax, which is what I reminded her. Which of course just added fuel to her already burning fire. I really should just learn to keep my mouth shut around her.

"Well, if you want to tolerate the excesses of the monarchy, you can be my guest, Michael. But I happen to think that it's disgusting," I felt Thermopolis flinch beside me and out of the corner of my eye I could see her sinking lower and lower in her chair as Lil ranted on, "with the world economy in the state it's in today, for anyone to have a total worth of three hundred million dollars… especially someone who never did a day's work for it!" I just stared at her for a moment too stunned by what she had said.

How could she be so rude towards her best friend's father! Someone she hasn't even met and is only judging through her own shallow views?

Through gritted teeth, I snapped back at her; "Pardon me, Lilly, but it's my understanding that Mia's father works extremely hard for his country. His father's historic pledge, after Mussolini's forces invaded in 1939, to exercise the rights of sovereignty in accordance with the political and economic interests of neighbouring France, in exchange for military and naval protection in the event of war, might have tied the hands of a lesser politician, but Mia's father has managed to work around that agreement. His efforts have resulted in a nation that has the highest literacy rate in Europe, some of the best educational attainment rates, and the lowest infant mortality, inflation, and unemployment rates in the Western hemisphere." Yes, Wikipedia and Google are your friends.

I was a bit out of breath when I finished but it was worth. Mia was looking up at me with a sort of 'wow' expression on her face. Lil looked ready to murder me.

"Shut Up." She snapped furiously at me. She hates being wrong, she can't be wrong, it just doesn't computer for her. "I see they already having you spouting off their populist propaganda like a good little girl." Oh for fuck sake, Lil.

"Michael's the one who – "

"Aw, Lilly, you're just jealous." Because really, that is what it all came down too, Lil being jealous of Mia.

"I am not." You are too!

"Yes, you are." I said calmly, ignoring her death glares, "You're jealous because she got her hair cut without consulting you. You're jealous because you stopped talking to her, and she went out and got a new friend." While you didn't… though you did score yourself a boyfriend, but I don't think it's the same thing. "And you're jealous because all this time, Mia's had this secret she didn't tell you." Out of the corner of my eye I noted Mia mouthing "couldn't. Knew that you'd react like this."

"Michael," I had struck a nerve, a deep one at that with my last comment, "SHUT UP!"

"Lilly?" her boyfriend, Boris, musical genius, stuck his head out the supply closet, looking over at us curiously. "Did you say something?"

"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, BORIS!" See what I mean about being surprised that she has a boyfriend? I can tell now that when they do break (and for his sake, I hope it's soon) it's going to be nasty… for him.

"Sorry." He squeaked meekly, ducking back into the closet and shutting it behind him.

"Gosh, Michael," Oh, she's really mad now. I am so going to pay and publically too. Great! Just great! "You sure are quick to come to Mia's defence all of a sudden." Eh, Lil, memory check, I have always come to Mia's defence whenever you're picking on her, it just the last few months I've been a little more subtle about it. "I wonder if maybe it occurred to you that your agreement, while ostensibly based in logic, might have less intellectual than libidinous roots?" I just stared at her.

Did my little sister just say libidinous? What the hell are teaching at this school?

Though clearly, they are not teaching everyone the same level of English to all because Mia simply looked perplexed at my red face and Lil's smug grin, but said nothing, simply sliding her chair a little back and watching Lil and I battle it out at a relatively safe distance. Mia knows when to turn tail and run whenever Lil and I get into one of our serious arguments, like this one had the possibility of becoming.

Trying to cover my embarrassment, I snapped; "well, what about your persecution of the Hos? Is that rooted in intellectual reasoning? Or is it more an example of vanity run amok?"

"That's a circular argument." Lil sniffed.

"It isn't. It's empirical."

That got her. She stared at me for a moment, lost for words and knowing that she had lost this debate… for now.

With some relief I turned back to Mia, who was staring at us with something of awe. Possibly at the fact that I had come away without having my shins kicked to smithereens by my darling sister.

"So does this guy," I know completely random, but I wanted to get the conversation as far away from the argument Lil and I just had, plus I wanted to have another go at asking Mia out. Yes, with Lil there and most likely listening in.

Ok, more I just wanted to test the waters. I'm a coward, deal with it. "Have to follow you everywhere from now on?" I was asking out of genuine curiosity while also trying to figure out how much having a bodyguard tagging along on dates would mess up the mood of said date. If said date ever occurs.

"Yes."

"Really? _Everywhere_?"

"Everywhere except the Ladies' Room. Then he has to wait outside." I tried not to laugh, because she looked so exasperated at the idea of being followed around everywhere, everywhere except of course the bathroom.

"What if you were to go on a date?" I could see both Lil and Mia's bodyguard looking at me curiously, well Lil looked curious while Mia's bodyguard, he was grinning and looking as if something that he had been wondering about for a while had just been confirmed.

Brilliant, so now even her bodyguard knows, though if he doesn't seem bothered by it, maybe, just maybe, I still do have a chance with her.

I pressed on because Mia didn't look suspicious in fact she only looked even more exasperated. "like to the Cultural Diversity Dance this weekend?"

She just stared at me for a moment, as if I was nuts or something.

"That hasn't been an issue," she started slowly, still looking at me oddly though more with a look as if she was trying to judge when I was going to start making fun of her and laughing, "considering no one's asked me." I opened my mouth to do just that but…

"Excuse me." Every head in the room wiped around to stare at Boris who was leaning out of the supply closet looking a little grey in the face. "I accidentally knocked over a bottle of rubber cement with my bow and it's getting hard to breath. Can I come out now?"

In unionised the whole room yelled back at him, "NO!"

I turned back to Mia, opening my mouth to once more try again but then Mrs Hill came in, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"What's all this noise in here? We can hardly hear ourselves think in the teachers' lounge. Boris, why are you in the supply closet? Come out now. Everybody else, get back to work!"

And we did. I mean what else could I do? She didn't leave the room and it was so quiet with her sitting at her desk, that I couldn't risk trying to ask Mia again for fear of someone coughlilcough overhearing.

I didn't get another chance to ask her for the rest of the day, leaving me feeling rather defeated and depressed again.

When I got home, Lil stalked straight to her room (she isn't talking to me on account of our "fight" today. YAY!) and I went to mine, flopping down on to my bed and staring absently up at my ceiling for a few moments before turning my head to look at my self brought guitar that was half hidden behind my desk.

I hadn't played it in awhile, what with everyone being home so much of late and I don't really want them to know I can play.

But… I could hear Lil's music blaring from her room and the parental unit wasn't home yet, so…

I grabbed it, pulling it towards me.

I strummed a few notes, humming a tune I think I'd just about die if anyone else ever heard me humming it. Not because it's bad or embarrassing, it just… personal.

Really, really personal.

And really only one person is ever meant to hear it, the full song, I mean, so…

That is if I ever get around to playing and singing it to her.

Why am I such a coward?

Why can't I just be more like Felix and god forbid, Josh! They have no trouble asking girls out. I mean even Paul has an easier time than me!

And they haven't even really, really liked the girls they've gone out with… especially Josh, who uses them and then tosses them aside for someone new.

And I really, really do… so why is it so hard? I mean the worse she can say is no, right…

Oh god… I think I would just about die then!

I sighed heavily and placed my guitar back by my desk.

_She's a tall drink of water_

_Can't say how much you want her_

_How long you've tried to stay cool_

_But she doesn't even see you_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

I thought Thursday things might improve, they didn't.

And Friday, everything basically went to hell. I know, 'overdramatic much?' but all day long I felt like my head was being punched in.

"You better hurry up." Felix muttered in English.

I looked at him in bewildered.

"Why? With what?" he gave me an exasperated look before nodding towards Josh who had just come in with his cronies.

"Didn't you hear? He broke up with Weinberger last night." I felt my eyes beginning to grow wider as understanding filled me.

"You better hurry up."

All I could do was nod, feeling a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of my gut all the while. The feeling only grew when I overheard Josh in PE, about what about he was going to do once he and Mia started… I want to kill him so badly… he doesn't even care about her, he only want to go out with her for one reasons and one reason only; to get himself into the papers… oh and to get himself into some "cool" places.

"Mike." Felix warned me, nodding in the direction of Wheeton who was watching us closely, as was several of Josh's cronies, as if they were waiting to see what I would do.

I don't know how I stopped myself from beating him into a Cream of Wheat, but I did, somehow. But that didn't mean I didn't shove my way past him at the end of PE and muttering darkly, "You are so fucking sick."

I should have known that by my saying that would only make him act faster so that when I went into G&T after lunch I found Lil and Mia in this huge roar over the fact that Josh had asked her out and she… she had said yes.

I felt like banging my head against a really, really solid object just then.

"Plus Boris doesn't do drugs?" I'm not even going to ask how Boris got dragged into this fight, which come to think of it, neither, it seemed, was he.

He was just sitting at a table watching the girls go at with a sort of 'what the hell is going on' expression on his face which I couldn't fault him for wearing. I would be to if I didn't feel like I had just been gutted.

"Have you ever seen him do drugs?" Mia snapped back. She looked really annoyed as well as nervous which is always a sure sign that she isn't happy about something, especially when her hands keep fidgeting by her side.

And no, no one has ever seen Josh do drugs, because Josh doesn't do drugs. He drinks excessively at parties, but drugs, no… sadly.

If he did do them then I could have something over him, but sadly he doesn't and Felix remains as one of the only people (at school) that I know to do drugs. Or at least the only person at school who does drugs who I talk to.

"You're over-rationalising. Whenever you over-rationalise, Mia, I know you're worried." Which is also true… I wonder if she just said yes to him more out of being unable to say no to people than her actually wanting to go out with him… or is that just wishful thinking on my part?

I can see flickers of confliction in Mia's face which makes Lil turn all smug, which of course Mia sees and she immediately shuts her face down.

When the hell did she learn how to do that? Shut her face down like that? Though her eyes are still looking upset and worried, but that might be more because of Lil ripping into her… again.

I wondered again if Mia is doing this, going out with Josh, as some sort of weird rebellion against… Lil?

Once again, this could be just wishful thinking on my part. But wishful thinking is all I've got or I'll go insane!

Why wasn't I faster? Why am I such a coward? And why the hell is Josh Richter taking her to the Tavern on the Green? Doesn't he know she's a vegetarian?

Stupid question… someone shoot me already, please?

I felt like I was being watched and noticed that Mia's bodyguard (whose name I learnt yesterday to be Lars, during a rather amusing conversation about how Han Solo surviving all those laser blast being shot after him by the imperial guard and Lars saying that if he had been there he would have got him in one shot. Neither Mia or I argued with him on that because we totally agreed with him through our laughter. How did things go from that to… this?) was actually looking at me with sympathy.

He was obviously not happy about this either.

"You're going too, right?" My heart soared a little when he nodded and said, "Oh yes." That made me feel quite a great deal better. Ok, maybe not a great deal, but I would have been flipping out worse than ever if she had been going out with Josh by herself.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mia watching us, her eyes curious and annoyed. I wanted to feel angry with her for being so stupid as to fall for Josh's charm and into his trap, but she's only fourteen. And for most of her fourteen years, she has been ignored by basically everyone, so why wouldn't she jump at the chance at going out with the 'most, popular, cutest guy in the whole school'.

I fought the desire to gag and settled for rolling my eyes at the ceiling because I couldn't look at her anymore, not when she was still biting down hard upon her bottom lip like she was regretting something. I couldn't give into the hope that the thing or person she was regretting was me.

I seriously did not want to go to Trig, I just wanted to skip the rest of my classes for the day and go home and mope.

But I went anyway, I mean, what else could I do? Plus Maya would be home and she would tell my parents that I had come home early and I don't feel like being psychoanalysed by them right at the moment.

I didn't realise how much my bad mood was showing on my face until I went into Trig where I heard Pierce, who had been standing around the Jerk's desk along with Matt and Bryan, looked in my direction as I entered the classroom, gave a low whistle and said in a not so quiet voice, "Moscovitz looks pissed."

I saw the Jerk looking at me curiously, though with more amusement than anything else, making me want to break he's face even more, though I managed to refrained myself from doing so and simply flopped into my desk and stared at the opposite wall for the whole lesson. Once again, Patterson cut me some slack, but I think more from the fear that I might bite his head off if he asked me anything more than anything else, like my usually being a good student.

I don't know why I did this, why I decided to corner the Jerk after class but I was doing just that without even thinking once Patterson had left the room.

"What's your deal?" I demanded once I had successfully blocked him from exiting and from his cronies who I could hear muttering angrily behind me.

I crossed my arms across my chest and stood to my full height which a hell of lot taller than most people think, meaning that I now stood a full inch taller than the Jerk!

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He asked as he jerked he head to tell his cronies to clear off.

At least he has guts enough to face me alone and to not have his entourage take me out from behind because even though I was as mad as hell, I had been wondering how long it would take the Jerk to signal his buddies to whack me over the head or something.

"Cut the crap." I snapped, feeling think angrier than I've ever felt in my life. "Why the fuck did you ask Mia out?"

"Finally calling her by her first name, huh? Good for you!" I really felt like punching him then. And for a moment I thought I saw his eyes widen and a look of realization sort of went through his eyes as he sort of stared at me in a amazed sort of way. But I didn't care, I really didn't.

"If you hurt…" I started slowly, but he interrupted me.

"What? You're going to hunt me down and kill me?" he gave a snort but he wasn't looking at me anymore, or rather he still was but he wasn't meeting my eyes. "Challenge me to a duel or something? Pity, cos my fencing blade is with my other school trousers, so today ain't good for me."

I felt myself grin, despite myself because I realised that despite his cocky exterior, Josh Richter was actually scared of me.

He actually thought I was going to beat him up or something. And even more surprising is that he thought that if we did fight, that I might actually win! This thought suddenly made me feel calm again.

"Nope, not kill you." I said calmly, feeling once more collected. Josh Richter was scared of me, or rather worried of what I could possibly do to him. And he should be.

"But I will make your life utter hell. If you so much as mess one hair on her head, I will seriously end your life socially" I said almost cheerfully, because I would, I would make his life utter hell for him by destroying his social image and I would have fun doing it!

I left Trig feeling far more calm than I have felt in days and headed for history.

"Hey." Felix said as I sat down at desk at the between him and Paul both of whom were eyeing me as if I was about to explode or something.

I just nodded and dragged out my text book and notebook.

"You have to go to that dance." Felix said suddenly. I stared at him, what the fuck?

"Why?" I asked frowning.

"Because I bet you twenty bucks that Richter will mess up tomorrow night and the Princess will dump him and you have to be there to pick up the pieces."

"How do you figure he'll mess up?" Paul asked, looking a little doubtful.

"Because the Princess isn't his type."

"So?" both Paul and I said causing Felix to roll his eyes.

"So, he'll mess up. He'll act the same way he does with all the other girls he's dated and I bet you the Princess won't like it and she'll dump him as fast as anything."

"You talking from experience here?" Paul asked because out of all of us, Felix has had the most girlfriends and nearly all those relationships have ended with him being slapped across the face for being an idiot or something along those lines.

"Possibly. Look, just go to the stupid dance, trust me on this."

"Ok…" I said slowly.

"Trust me." Felix said again before we were told to be quiet by the teacher.

Truth be told, I wasn't really paying much attention to what was being said in class, my mind too busy going over everything that had happen so far this week. Which is a lot; I certainly can't call it boring.

He'll mess up.

How could Felix be so sure about this? I mean, yeah he sort of already has with the whole plan to take her to Tavern on the Green which serves Meat as basically every course, but is that seriously enough to make Mia want to dump him? Probably not, she's a fairly understanding girl and thinks a hell of a lot about others' feelings, but…

And Lars will be there, so that would stop Josh from doing anything… bad or un-gentlemanly, right?

Or maybe not? Maybe having Lars there will actually cause Josh to show his true colours… one can only hope.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** A rather short chapter I'm afraid but I promise the next one is longer and, hehehe, a lot more fun.  
>Anyway, please enjoy and as I've said before review are deeply appreciated.<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter Fourteen<strong>

Ok, I admit I am an arse and a sore loser… a very sore loser in fact, but in my mind he deserves it, plus it is only a warning and if he's smart it'll just stay a warning and I won't unleash what I have planned for him if he so much as hurts one hair upon Mia's head.

I leant back in my computer chair feeling pretty proud of myself.

This was way better than what I did to Justin Baxendale's computer all those years ago. And the best thing is that they can't prove that I had any involvement at all, especially since I've set a time limit on it and everything should return to normal again around 8:30 tonight.

So yeah, I'm pretty pleased with my little warning.

I logged off basically as soon as I sent that particular little package to Josh's computer and flopped on to my bed, once more feeling miserable because my mind was no longer occupied with my 'lets-make-Josh-bloody-Richter-suffer' plan and stared without really seeing up at my ceiling.

I never realised how boring my ceiling actually was.

I remember when I was younger I used to have glow-an-the-dark stars stuck all over it, but I had to take them down when we got the apartment painted and they got lost in a box somewhere. I really need to find them again or get some new ones and try and create the solar system or something like that.

I heard the phone ring but didn't get up until Mom knocked on my door, saying it was for me. Frowning, I got up and took the phone from her. I admit I was a little surprised to have someone ringing me because so few do, I mean they usually talk to me online or whatever.

"Hello?" I asked ok, a little cautiously. I don't get many calls as I said, I'm the one who answers the phone then yells for the person who is wanted on the phone. Maya gets more phone calls than I do and she doesn't even live here!

"Hey Michael, it's Paul."

"Oh, hi." I said as I tried to figure out why the hell Paul was calling me.

"Heard you took out Richter computer." He said sounding thoroughly amused.

"How do you know that?"

"Because Justin just told me over IM as he's talking to Josh over the phone."

"How is he…" I started but then remembered that there are some lucky bastards who have DSL installed in their house. "Right. So why is Justin telling you?"

"Because I'm friends with him," he reminded me, a little dryly. But hey, this was something that neither Felix nor I could understand, ever. Paul is a nerd, like a huge nerd. He tries to hide it but he is. And Justin is just so… not one. But they've been friends on and off since I think freshman year. Justin also happens to be dating Paul's older sister (she's older than Paul and the rest of us by one year, I think). It's long distance relationship because she's on a scholarship run exchange program in England but apparently they're still going strong and Justin is completely devoted to her according to Paul and that's why he doesn't give any of the girls at school (or on the street) the time of day, so I guess that is a positive in his favour. "and he's friends with Josh and they both want to know if you did it. Which I'm guessing you did."

"Guilty." I said, not feeling one little bit ashamed about what I had done.

"Yeah, thought as much. Pretty much as soon as Justin typed 'left school work, porn gone'." I fought back an immature chuckle before asking, "What gave me away? The leaving the school work or getting rid of the porn?"

"Funnily enough, it was the leaving of the school work."

"Do they know it was me?"

"Pretty much, but they've got nothing to prove it. And that's pissing Josh off, which you had better watch out for because I don't know how much more of you he can take before he decides to get even." I shrugged not overly bothered by this.

"Mike, seriously, just think before you do anything more… hey."

"What?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, Justin just typed that Josh's stuff is all back." I looked at my alarm clock and saw that it was 8:30 exactly.

"Damn, you're good!" Paul said sounding admiring though also a little freaked out.

"Thank you." I said, feeling a little pleased with myself.

"That was just a taste of what's to come if he messes with her, right?"

"Yup." I said calmly.

"Yeah, I thought as much. So does Justin and he's warned Josh."

"Great." Not exactly what I wanted but hey, maybe it'll keep him in line.

"I still think you should watch it Michael. You know what Josh can be like when he's pissed off at someone or something doesn't go he's way."

"Yeah, I know." I said, "But as long as it gets him away from her, I don't really care. I won't let him hurt her or do what he's done to other girls to her."

"You really do have it bad for her don't you?"

I looked over at my guitar. _But she doesn't even see you_

Yeah, I really do.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:** So, the big dance... finally. Well, the first part of the dance at least. Second halve is in chapter 16 and then this whole fic is wrapped up in chapter 17... YAY! And then I have to start work on book 2, thank gods, I have already started on it before the new term started, otherwise I don't know how I'll find the time, but I'm not going to think about that for the moment at least.  
>Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what you think and if you have any ideas or some sort of interaction between Michael and other characters in book 2, let me know because as you've read in this I'm not just writing Michael's scenes in the books, I'm making up my own for him as well. So yeah, let me know.<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter Fifteen<strong>

"Why are you even here?" that's a really good question Lil, I've bee asking myself the same thing for the last hour and whatever.

"You look like a big dope just standing here in the corner all by yourself." Thanks, Lil, thanks a lot. And I was just about to compliment you on how much you don't look like a pug tonight, too!

And she didn't. She actually looked quite pretty tonight, granted that might have been because both Mom and Maya had been at her for most of the day, doing her hair and make-up so that now she almost isn't recognisable as my sister. But then she ruins the image by talking.

"Wow! Look at all the News vans outside!" I heard someone close to the door exclaim loudly.

"Three guesses why." Another kid said.

"Yeah, but how did they know we had a dance on tonight?"

"Someone told them?"

"But why?"

"Publicity?"

"The Princess?"

"Why would she though? I mean, what's the point? She has enough of it already without them coming to a lousy dance."

I started once more tuning out all the annoying voices of the kids around me that is until…

"Hey! I think she's here!"

"How do ya figure?"

"Well by the obvious sign of the Papz going nuts!"

It took all my strength to keep myself from joining the crowd that was beginning to gather near the school's front doors.

"Now come on all of you. You're all supposed to be in the cafeteria." Mr G said as he started herding kids away from the door and back into the caff where bad hip hop was playing.

He didn't seem to bother trying to get me to move, or Lil and her small group of friends that were gathered around her, watching the door as if was going to explode or something.

It wasn't long before we heard shouting and a lot of flashing light was coming in through the front doors.

I could just make out two shapes suddenly standing by the door and though it was dark the flashing lights of the cameras didn't help us to see what was happening out there, but we certainly heard what was wanted to be happening out there.

"Kiss her! Kiss her!"

Ok, now I seriously don't want to be here. Though if he kisses her, I'm going to flipping kill him!

…

He did, he kissed her… and she let him.

I smacked my head against the wall behind me, feeling as if I had been punched in the gut, repeatedly.

I felt like killing him even more when the school doors open and he more or less shoved her inside. He looked annoyed, but his annoyance was nothing compared to Mia's face. It was bright red, but not in the good 'I'm so happy' way but more of the 'oh god, let the floor just open up and just swallow me whole, please'. She looked just about ready die of embarrassment.

Which just made me want to kill him even more!

"Why did you do that?" I was torn from death glaring the jerk by her voice. Her tone sounded exactly like the one she used on Lil at the beginning of their fight, but with way more anger and annoyance laced into it, also the glare that she was giving him was way, way worse than the scowl she had given Lil that day.

"Do what?" the idiot asked. He didn't even have the decency to look her in the eye, though even from the distance I was away from them, her, I too, I guess, would have found it hard to look her in the eyes if she was looking at me like she was looking at Josh. Hehehe, and the look she was giving him was pure gold!

"Kiss me like that, in front of everyone?" she demanded as he tried to ignore her by pulling their tickets out of his wallet.

"I don't know." Now, I felt like punching him again. Actually that feeling never really left, I was just enjoying watching Mia take him down a few notches, as she was so obviously doing. This must be a complete shock to Josh system, a girl not happy about him kissing her! His world must be in shock!

"Didn't you hear them? They were yelling at me to kiss you. So I did. Why?"

"Because I didn't appreciate it!" Josh looked like she slapped him when she said that and I felt myself start to grin.

"You didn't appreciate it? You mean you didn't like it?" Please say yes, please say yes.

"Yes." YES! Though I felt a bit deadpan as she said the next bit. "That's exactly what I mean. I didn't like it. I didn't like it all. Because I know you didn't kiss me because you like me. You kissed me because I am the Princess of Genovia." I couldn't help but think, well duh! But then I reminded myself how hurt she must be feeling to realise that this situation and people like him, are just the first in a long line of events that are now going to happen to her because she is the Princess of Genovia.

Her parents couldn't have thought to have waited til maybe she was eighteen before they dropped this bomb shell on her, could they?

"That's crazy. I like you. I like you a lot." Josh was desperately trying to salvage the situation but it was so obvious, that unlike so many girls before her, Mia wasn't buying it. In fact she just kept looking at him with growing disgust which was making it harder and harder for me to not start cracking up because of the look on Josh's face as he realised that his "carefully" thought out plan to use Mia was going straight to hell and on the express line too!

"You can't like me a lot. You don't even _know_ me. That's why I thought you asked me out. So you could get to know me better. But you haven't tried to get to know me at all. You just wanted your picture on _Extra_." Even though she sounded strong and extremely pissed as she snapped all this out, I could hear the hurt in her voice and I felt my heart go out to her, because even though I was cursing her own stupidity for not seeing Josh for what he truly was before he made a fool out of her and humiliated her publicly, I did know how much she liked him and how much she had genuinely hoped that he would like her back, for her. She just let her school girl crush run away with her head a bit.

"What do you mean, I don't know you? Of course I know you." He laughed and once again the desire to turn him into a Cream of Wheat just about overpower all my other senses.

"No, you don't. Because if you did, you wouldn't have ordered me a steak for dinner." I rolled my eyes and shook my head and immediately thought _idiot_.

"So I ordered the girl a steak." He made a 'so-sue-me' gesture before he continued. "That's a crime? It was a _filet mignon_, for God's sake."

"She's a vegetarian, you sociopath." Now this surprised me and not only me actually by the startled looks being sent in my sister direction as she scowled nastily up at Josh. Even Mia looked surprise by Lil sudden entry into her stand off with Josh, but she didn't object and suddenly Josh had two extremely pissed off girls' bearing down on him.

"Oosp, _so_ sorry." Can I hit him now? Seriously?

"Ready to slide?" how bout now?

Except what Mia did was even better than hitting him; she just looked upon him as if he was the most disgusting thing in the whole _verse_ and right as all his friends came into the entry hall, she turned and stalked away. The effect was slightly ruined by her changing course because she obviously remembered all the Papz outside (the original direction she had been heading in), causing her to recourse her route for the girls' bathroom.

Josh seemed to then click that Mia was ditching him and pretty much in front of the whole school, too, shouted, "Jesus! It was just a kiss!"

This became quickly obvious as the completely wrong thing to say to Mia, because when she turn back around to face him, I swear that if we ever have a threat of World War 3, we should just send Mia in and she can just glare at them. She'd scare them all straight within three minutes flat! If that! She looked that scary.

I'm guessing that she must have got this glare from both her mom and her dad because she just looked formidable. The glare she was giving him was way, way better than any of Buffy's famous stare downs!

"It wasn't just a kiss! Maybe that's how you wanted it to look, like it was just a kiss. But you and I both know what it really was; a media event. And one that you've been planning since you saw me in the _Post_. Well, thank you, Josh, but I can get my own publicity. I don't need _you_."

The all entrance hall just about exploded with gags of disbelief at the fact that someone, and that someone who only a couple of days ago had been a no one, was dissing Josh Richter, while the rest of us laughed, clapped and cheered at Josh's stunned face and at Mia, grabbing a book (?) from Lars, who had just arrived before resuming her stalked to the girl's bathroom.

I stood there uneasily, desperate to go after her and possibly comfort her, if she needed comfort or just do something, but couldn't follow her for the obvious reason of her being in the girl's bathroom.

An idea suddenly occurred to me and I dashed over to where Lil and her and Mia's small group of friends were still standing with their dates.

"Lil…"

"I know, I'm going." Lil said. She was red in the face and kept shooting evils over towards Josh.

"I'll come too." the Arab girl said. She looked a little shy, as if she thought Lil might rebuff her or something. She was after all the girl who had stolen Lil's best friend after all. But Lil didn't seem to have a problem with her, simply shrugging, before the two girls walked off to the bathroom. As they went I heard them introducing themselves and so on.

"Hey, look at Josh." One of Mia and Lil's friends suddenly giggled. We all looked over and saw that he was suddenly having a hell of a lot of trouble keeping himself upright.

"He's plastered." Another friend giggled. But I had a feeling it was a bit more to it than that. I immediately started searching around for Lars, quickly spotting him by the girl's room entrance.

I quickly walked over to him.

"What did you do to him?" I asked curiously as we watched two of Josh cronies help him into the cafeteria.

"What makes you think I did anything?" he asked with a smirk. I raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled.

"He'll be fine tomorrow, but he will have one hell of a headache."

"Because of what you did to him, whatever it was you did."

"I did nothing, I was talking about the hangover he will have the delight of having in the morning." I fought the desire to roll my eyes.

"Just make sure I won't have to do it to you." He said and I felt my stomach do an uneasy jolt as I glance sideways up at him. "Not that I think you will ever give me reason to." He added.

"Because I have no chance her, right?" I asked, feeling defeat sink in.

"I didn't say that. In fact, I think you have the best chance with her than anyone else in the world. If you play your cards right, of course." I blinked. Wait, what?

"How do you figure?"

"Well, you've known her since she was a child and she has basically grown up with you…"

"Which means she might just think of me as a brother." I interrupted him with more distress than I really wanted to show, especially at a school dance and especially not in front of a man who was carrying a Glock strapped to his shoulder. But instead of laughing at me, like he had every right to do so, he just looked at me seriously and said.

"She doesn't."

"How do you know?"

"Well, for one thing the way she talks about you and the way she acts around you. And trust me, knowing her a long time, before this whole princess thing will, in the future, put you in good stead."

"How?"

"Because you, unlike the rest of the world, will keep seeing _her_! While they see just the image and the glory of a princess, the glistening tiara, and the politics and fancy parties and so on, you will still see the girl behind all that and you will keep seeing her. And trust me when I say, she is going to need people who see her simply like that in the years to come."

"Because of people like Josh?"

"Because of people like him," he nodded, "but there will be other, who will be worse."

"How?" I asked feeling suddenly sick.

"They'll be the wolves in sheep's clothing. They will pretend to be her friends, pretend to care for her, and then they will use her for their own means and then leave her or possibly destroy her in the process." I just gagged at him.

"That's why she going to need you to help her see these people."

"Because she won't. " I said sighing. "Because she sees the good in basically everyone."

"Exactly."

"Great." I said sighing heavily.

"Don' give up so easily. Give yourself a chance; trust me when I say that you have a greater chance than anyone else here."

"Seriously?" I asked, feeling amazed. He nodded.

"Ask her to dance. Be at her side. Talk to her." he started to smirk, "you have far more to say to each other than she did with Richter, if that is anything."

"Ok." I said slowly and to my surprise he gave me a push in the direction of the Caff.

"Wha…"

"Get in there and when she comes out, do what you feel is right." He waved me off with a smirk. Gaping slightly back at him, I walked into the caff, feeling rather strange after my rather weird conversation with Mia's bodyguard.

Was it normal for bodyguards to be giving out advice? And that advice being on how to date, or at least how to get on the track of getting a date, with his charge?

I don't think it is.

So, what does that mean?

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><p><strong>Author's Random Note:<strong> I love Lars. He's my favourite side-character in the PD series!

He seriously needs more love and more screne-time, because he is seriously awesome! lol.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Note:** I know, it's been awhile since my last update. Sorry about that, I've been at my Dad's and he doesn't have a particularly fast connection to the internet. So yeah.  
>Also, Second Last Chapter for this Fic! YAY!<br>By the way, so far I've written nine chapters for the sequal of this fic.  
>Hope you all enjoy this chapter and comments are great appreciated. Thanks.<p>

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><p><strong>Chapter Sixteen<strong>

Well, that went way better than I thought it ever could have.

No seriously, it went fantastically.

Mia came out of the girl's bathroom with Lil and their Arab friend maybe ten minutes after my chat with Lars. She didn't look overly upset, just tired, very tired and possibly a little wary. I felt another tug on my heart strings when I saw that.

I watched as the girls rejoin their group at the Pakistani table that was demonstrating how maunds, the Pakistani unit of measurement with falling rice.

It took me several moments to gather the guts to go over. In truth, the only reason I started walking in that direction was because I happen to glance behind the table where Lars was standing and saw him rolling his eyes at my failing attempts at giving myself a chance. So to prove him wrong, I walked over to the table.

"Hey," I said feeling completely uncomfortable and like a complete dork when nine pairs of fourteen year old eyes, all looked up and stared at me. Funnily enough, it was Lil who saved me from further embarrassment when she turned to Mia who was sitting besides her, saying, "See I told you he was hanging around like a big dope. Michael, sit down next to Mia so that you can both be big dopes together."

I rolled my eyes at her and said thanks, somewhat sarcastically, but I took the seat beside Mia as quick as anything without it looking too suspicious.

"Hey." I said again as Mia turned to smile at me. I was slightly taken aback by how pretty she looked. I mean she is always pretty, ok, so maybe she's more cute than anything else usually, but tonight she was like seriously beautiful.

Her hair was shining like a halo around her face, which was glowing with very subtle, professional hints of make-up. And her dress… wow.

_Focus, Moscovitz_, I told myself firmly as I dragged my eyes away from her icy blue clothed body, which was turned in my direction as she waited for whatever I was about to say.

"Are you alright?"

Her smile seemed to just grow as she replied that, yeah, she was.

There was a slow song playing and everyone but us vacated the table. Once we were alone, my eyes once more wandered over her body, over the dress that revealed so much that was usually so covered up. I don't know what those guys were talking about, but I think she looks fantastic, just the way she is.

"You look really nice." I blurted out without thinking. I expected her to look at me weird or something like that, but she didn't.

Instead, she smiled, a little shyly at me as she plucked at the dress she wore.

"My Grandmother says that I'm finally starting to look like a princess." She said, looking a little amused, before she added, "you look nice too." I went red but tried to cover it with a laugh.

"Mom always says I look crescent-fresh whenever I wear this, which is like twice."

"Cresent-fresh?"

"I have no idea. It's Mom, remember." She giggled and nodded, "anyway, she made me wear it to my cousin Steve bar mitzvah. You remember Steve?"

"Didn't we have a water balloon fight against his kids two summers ago?"

"And won!" I reminded causing her to laugh.

"Your cousins beg to differ." She giggled.

"Yeah, well just because there were twelve of them and three of us, doesn't mean we didn't have a chance of winning. And helped that you have such a great throwing arm." I added and she went red.

"Why are you here?" she asked once she was over her embarrassment.

I grinned at her as I asked, "do you want me to go away?" I teased causing her to laugh again and grab my arm as she shook her head.

"I didn't mean it like that. I meant why are you here at the dance? I thought you, the computer club, that is, all decided to boycotted because Principle Gupta said that you couldn't have a booth because…"

"The internet isn't a culture, so it can't have a table here, yeah," I finished for her, "just wait a couple of years and she'll be eating her words." She giggled again.

"So why are you here, if that's the case?"

"I don't know, felt like it." She looked sceptical.

"Ok, you want to know the truth?" I asked leaning in close to her, noticing that she had leant in too, so that our noses were bare millimetres apart.

I gulped a little before continuing, "I came to see just how culturally diverse the cheerleaders could prove not to be this year and I can clearly see that they have not failed to disappoint." I pointed to the bunch of girls, who were basically all wearing the same black, slinky number.

Mia burst out laughing when she saw them.

"I hadn't even noticed." She giggled. "What did they do? Co-ordinate with each other before hand or something?"

"Or they all have the same number of brains cells between them and those brains cells are basically identical to each other so that they can't be different even if they wanted to be. It's the sad fate of being a cheerleader; you are doomed to look and act alike forever!" I said solemnly while Mia continued to crack up beside me. After a moment I was joining her, so that when everyone came back to the table they were welcomed by hysteria.

"What are you two on?" Lil asked, looking quite startled by what she was seeing.

"Culturally diverse cheerleaders." Mia giggled, causing me to crack up again.

"What?"

"Never mind." Both Mia and I said, still laughing.

Then someone, I don't know who, I think it was the Arab girl's, Tina is her name, boyfriend brought up Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, much to the disgust of most of the girls sitting at the table, actually all except for… Mia, who was on my side about whether there was actual caffeine in replicator coffee. I said that coffee; along with everything else that came out of the replicator was mostly likely refuse, just with all the germs impurities extracted. And even though I know that had thoroughly grossed Mia out, she still agreed with me.

Another slow song came on, shortly after that and everyone but Mia and me, left to go dance. Mia and I instead continued sitting at the table talking or arguing over the mechanics of the replicator about how it decided it no longer had the natural ingredient to create the spoken product because Mia argued that they must have left Earth or wherever with some of the necessary ingredients, that the crew wouldn't just start on refuse and so how did the replicator know to start reusing waste products to start creating the desired food for the person who ordered. It got kind of complicated and it was doing both our heads in trying to figure it out also it was making us feel a little sick thinking about it, so we moved on to arguing about who was the more effective leader, Captain Kirk or Captain Picard. Problem is, we liked them both for different reasons, and so we sort of kept going around in circles as we measured up their almost equal qualities and faults. We were only broke from this loop when Mr G came over to ask if Mia was ok.

She smiled up at him and said, "of course."

Mr G looked relieved as he said it was glad to hear that and it was then that it struck me just how much Mr G already cared for Mia and how much he must really like Mia's mom.

He also added that due to Mia's latest scores on the practice sheets that he gives her every day, he was happy to tell her that she had brought her long standing F up to a D, which he congratulated her whole heartedly on and told her to keep up the good work. He looked really, really pleased too. He's a good teacher, Mr G.

"You should probably congratulate Michael too," I was drawn out of my thoughts by Mia's voice, "since he's been putting himself through the chore of tutoring me everyday for the last week." She said smiling widely at me causing me to grow warm around the ears and red in the face.

"I didn't really have anything to do with it," I said feeling embarrassed, rubbing a hand behind my head, "all I did was tell you to stop writing your notes in that notebook you're always carrying around with you these days and to not be messy with your columns."

"Still." She said her smile still wide and warm that I got lost in it and didn't even notice that Mr G had left and I had been looking at her for abnormally long time.

I only clicked on to how long it was when Lil and the rest of them came back to the table with Lil all excited over the fact that Tine, her new BFF for the moment, who is now her new producer for her show because she had just discovered that Tina got the whopping weekly allowance of fifty bucks, which had even me whistling at. For me to get fifty dollars a week, I'd have to do some pretty nasty jobs around the apartment to earn it.

Anyway, the reason that Tina is Lil's new producer is because Tina says she is going to put her weekly allowance into the worthy cause of funding and promoting Lil's show. I had to turn my head in the opposite direction so that no one could see me gagging. Lil's show a worthy cause, I just shake my head.

"And Mia do you mind being the topic of next weeks episode? I was thinking of calling it 'The New Monarchy: Royals Who Make A Difference'." I was once again fighting myself not to start laughing or make it obvious that I was rolling my eyes at Lil's major sucking up big time to Mia. But since Mia wasn't complaining, she was actually giving Lil exclusive rights to for her first public interview, which I just knew was going to come back to bit her later, just as long as she promised to ask her on her views and feelings on the meat industry. I just shook my head with silent laughter, oh yeah, she's still Mia.

Then another slow song came on and it was then I just happen to glance at my watch, realising that I only had just over an hour left of the dance to ask Mia if she wanted to dance.

I felt panic beginning to build in me even though previously I had been as calm as anything, just sitting there talking to Mia, which felt like the most natural thing in the world to do.

So without really thinking what I was doing and interrupting her in whatever she was about to say or ask me, I blurt out quite bluntly if she wanted to dance.

She looked sort of surprised and I sat there waiting for her to tell me, in an elegant princess way, no and for me to go crawl in a hole or something when she said sure.

I sort of just sat there for a moment, staring at her, sort of stunned due to the fact that I had been mentally preparing myself for her rejecting the suggestion completely.

I heard an unsubtle cough behind us, which I didn't turn around to see who it was because it was obvious and I didn't want to deal with him laughing at me, so I simply held out my hand for her to grasp as I helped her out of her seat.

Even with the torturous princess lessons that she's been having to suffer through for the past few weeks, it didn't mean that she was completely used to walking in high heels and a long dress, so she stumbled a little as we made our way to the dance floor (aka the cleared of tables cafeteria) causing me to catch her to stop her from falling.

"Well, that wasn't very Princess like." She giggled shyly as I righted her. "Sorry." She said looking up at me, biting her lip lightly.

"Um, it's ok." I somehow managed to get out. "Um, come on." I took hold of her hand again and led her to a spare bit of floor that was a short distance away from all the other dancers.

I think I would have made a complete dork of myself if I hadn't looked into her face, right when I was supposed to put my arms around her, but seeing that she looked just as shy as I felt suddenly gave me the courage to just do it! Just put my arms around her waist and pull her in close to me. And only a moment later her arms were wrapped around my neck and we were just moving on the spot and it felt so… right.

To have her in my arms, to feel her arms around me, it just felt like the most natural thing in the world. Just like talking with her had been.

It wasn't awkward or weird, it was just right and natural and I didn't want to let her go.

Though it was strange, I mean I know that really you're not suppose to talk when your slow-dancing with someone but with this, dancing with Mia, it was like words weren't needed, but as soon as the song had ended we just started talking again.

Ok, in truth, neither of us shut up until the next slow song came on and this time I didn't even have to ask if she wanted to, we just sort of made our way with the rest of them to the dance floor, even with Lil staring at us with raised eyebrows, and start slow-dancing again.

It's strange and yet somehow still the most natural of thing to do. And that was basically how the dance paned out, talking non-stop through all the fast songs and not saying a word when we danced to the slow ones.

Though I have to admit I was glad when it was time to leave.

As much as I enjoyed the evening with Mia, my eardrums were basically dying from all the bad, fast track music that had been playing throughout the night and I was basically ready to call it quits when it was time to leave. But that wasn't so bad because Mia seemed to be as eager to go as I was, even though we were still rambling about something or other and had to be basically led to the limo that Tina's father, Mr Hakim Baba had sent to pick up his daughter, her bodyguard and her date up from the dance, since we weren't paying all that much attention to where we were going, to caught up in our conversation.

"Come-ON, you two! Could you be any slower?" Lilly was screeching at us from the limo causing both Mia and I to grin sheepishly back at her before we quicken our pace and slid into the limo, where I got sit beside Mia again.

I don't know who decided, Lil probably, that we were all going back to our place but that was what I heard Mia, using the Limo phone to call her mom, tell her that was where we were heading and that she was spending the night at ours.

I really should stop getting all excited every time I hear she is spending the night over at ours. It's kind of ridiculous. But I can't help it, I can't help but not be happy about that she's staying over and that she's friends with Lil again.

Anyway, to say that Mom and Dad were surprised to see us all coming through the front door is a little bit of an understatement, but they let us in anyway and allowed us to take over the living room as long as we kept the noise down. They were probably even more surprised to see me there because I heard Mom whispering to Dad "wasn't he in his room? When did he leave? At least he wore the tux I brought him."

I rolled my eyes and headed for the living room, where Lil and Mia was setting End of the World, which we played until Dad came out at 1:30 telling everyone who doesn't live here and here is their second home, they all had to go to their own homes because he had an early t'ai chi appointment in the morning.

"Well, overall, I would say that was a successful evening." Lars said in a quiet voice to me after he promised to Mia that he wouldn't tell her father about the 'shall never be mention ever again event with the jerk who shall never be named'.

"You think?" I asked feeling more than a little hopeful.

To my surprised he lifted his right hand to which I high fived him.

He gave me a wink before leaving with Wahim, starting a rather disturbing conversation on whether grenades or rocket launches were better in enclosed combat.

I soon found myself to be the last one awake, or so I thought when I walked into the kitchen where Mia was getting herself a glass of water.

"Hey." I said as I leant against the kitchen bench. She turned to face me with a wide smile on her face.

"Hi."

I took a deep breath, still not overly sure of just how far I wanted to go tonight, but something in my gut told me it was the right thing to do.

"Do you have a moment? I want to show you something?" I jerked my head in the direction of my room, trying to not to think of perverted elements to what I had just said that thank god she didn't pick up on. This was completely innocent!

She followed me to my room with her glass of water, her eyes curious but she followed me still without question.

I closed my door behind me, gesturing for her to take a seat on my bed, which she did, still looking curious, though her eyes were darting around my room with interest. Thank god, I got out of habit of keeping my room like a pigsty.

"Ok, if you tell anyone about this, I'll never let you watch our Star Wars DVD's ever again." Because she doesn't own them, she only owns them on video.

Her eyes grew wide and she nodded her head vigorously.

"And when I say you can't tell anyone that includes Lil, right?" She nodded again.

"Ok." I took another deep breath as I reached for my guitar. Out of the corner of my eye I saw hers widen again but this time in surprise.

"You can play?" she asked, grinning widely at the guitar in my hand.

"A little." I said trying to sound modest.

"Can you play something for me?" I felt like dying because she was asking me to do exactly what I had been planning on doing.

"Sure. Um, any requests?" I don't know why I asked, it just seemed to be the polite thing to do. She shook her head.

"Nope."

"Um, ok. Do you want to hear something I wrote?" her smile just grew somehow even wider.

"You wrote a song?" she didn't sound surprise or condescending, she actually sounded delighted by the fact.

"It's not very good." I said feeling my face grow red. She just kept smiling encouragingly at me. I took another deep breath

"_Can't say how much you want her, How long you've tried to stay cool, But she doesn't even see you…"_

_She's a tall drink of water_


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:** Well, here it is, everyone, the final chapter for CracKing, the First.  
>Please enjoy! <p>

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><p><strong>Chapter Seventeen<strong>

Monday morning I started out with the best of moods. Ok I still wasn't going out with her much to the annoyance of Felix and Paul, but to tell all truths, that didn't really bother me.

I mean, that's not to say I'm going to give up on her or anything, I'm simply less worried about my not having a shot with her.

I now think I had a pretty good one, I just had to play my card smart and right, like Lars had advised me to do.

One day, and one day soon, Mia Thermopolis will be mine.

Even though she was flipping out about something in G&T.

I didn't hear much about what she and Lil were whispering about, well Mia was whispering, while shooting nervous glances in my direction, but then again it could have been in the general direction of the whole class because she was over by the computers, surfing the web for something, though whatever it is, it's freaking out Lil, who keeps yelping, "Oh, my God, Mia, why didn't you tell me?" over and over again. And whatever Mia was trying to say in her defence, Lil wasn't buying it.

I desperately wanted to know what the two of them were on about, if only because they both look hysterically funny with Lil getting all worked up about… whatever she had discover Mia looking at and Mia's face was just getting redder and redder.

But whatever had worked Mia up into a fit, I wasn't to find out then because the bell rang and she bolted from class, with Lil close behind her.

Anyway, besides that, I felt pretty good for most of the day; I got to miss out on PE in the morning because guest speakers for the local colleges and Uni's came to speak to the year twelve class, only downside was I had to make up that hour at the end of the day, when I usually had French… I wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or bad thing until I got there and by the end of the class I sort of wished that I had just gone to French.

To say that my good mood was completely destroyed in that hour is something of an understatement.

"Dude, what happen to you Saturday night?" I should have just ignored the conversation, moved away, done anything but listen. But heck despite what my IQ states, it doesn't necessarily mean that I'm all that smart…

"She is so going to pay." I really should have just tuned out; walked away, done anything but turn to look over to where Josh Richter stood with his cronies near by.

He looked positively murderous, which considering how he had been looking for most of the day; this was quite a turn around for him.

"The Princess?" I heard Matt ask sounding nervous.

I felt my stomach tighten as Josh nodded. But on the plus side he's usual followers didn't seem to be too keen on following him with this.

"I don't think that that's such a great idea." Bryan said looking nervously at Matt and Pierce both of whom were nodding their heads in agreement with him.

"You were all happy to make her pay for coning Lana last week!" Josh snapped at them angrily. "And the offence that she has inflicted towards me is far graver than that!"

I felt my hands tighten upon the basketball I was holding.

"Mike." Felix said beside me, his face warning against what he obviously guessed I was about to do.

"Yeah but that was before we knew she was something more than just some nobody kid. Now we know she's a princess with a bodyguard! Not to mention all those armed forces she has at her disposal, being a Princess and all. It's completely different now." Pierce pointed out.

"I will make her pay." Josh said with so much self confidence and arrogance, that the ball was out of my hands before Felix could finished yelping for me to stop and think about what I was doing.

The basketball smashed with a satisfactory thud against the back of Josh's thick skull. And instead of stalking out like I had done before, I started for him ready to beat him into a Cream of Wheat.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he snarled at me as I came to a stop in front of him, rising once more to my full height so that I now towered over him. I crossed my arms against my chest; I was going to see this through.

I started it and I sure as hell was going to finish it!

"I thought I warned you not to hurt her." I growled at him.

"Aw, you still haven't got with her yet, have you? But you're still trying to be her knight in shining armour?" He was baiting me but I refused to rise for it. Something he obviously saw because he started scowling up at me again as he demanded. "So what are you going to do to me, Moscovitz? Hmmm, pelt basketballs at my head for the rest of the year or are you going to send me more of those fancy viruses that you like so much?"

I forced myself to smile as I said, "Nah, I was more thinking of destroying you publicly. Far more interesting and entertaining, I think, personally." I could see him gritting his teeth as if he was contemplating whether to hit me now or wait.

Then he laughed.

"All this?" he gave a snort of laughter. "All this because I got the girl before you did? All this because you didn't have the guts to ask her out before the queue started forming? You do realise, that it's only going to get worse from now on, right? That you're chances of actually getting to go out with her for one measly date is like in single digits now. Actually come to think of it, if she turned down me," I felt my temper start to rise as he voiced the fears that I had thought of over and over again, since I first heard that she was a Princess, "why the fucking hell would she ever go out with you? You're just her best friend's nerdy older brother. Hey," he said laughing even harder now, "that might be exactly how she sees you. As a brother. Dude," he laughed again and I felt my hands tighten into fists at my side, "you are so freaking screwed. At least I got a kiss out of…"

I don't really know what happen, just that it happen really, really fast. One minute I was calmly thinking about beating the crap out of him and the next thing I knew I was punching him with all my might right in his stupid, smug face.

Somewhere nearby I heard someone, I think it was Pierce whistle as he said, "Woah! You're _so_ going down now Moscovitz." but I wasn't completely sure it was him because Josh had just thrown a punch at my face, which I somehow managed to duck so that it wouldn't break my nose. Instead his fist hit my jaw, which killed but it was far better than a broken nose. I punched him in the gut in revenge for that though.

I could hear cheering all around us, not to mention yelling.

I could vaguely hear Felix trying to yell some sort of instructions or advise as to where to hit Josh or how avoid one of his hits, but truthfully I wasn't paying much attention to what he was yelling, what with how much blood was pounding in my ears.

I'm not a good fighter due to the fact that really I've never been in a real fight in all my life up until now, but I knew that the times that I did hit him, hurt him quite bit and he was growing tired quickly from trying to hit me, except I kept blocking him and using my height against him. But in saying that he had his footballer's weight working for him so we were actually pretty evenly matched in some ways.

That is until he finally punched my nose and I felt it break.

I felt sick right then and wanted to throw in the towel when I saw that he had left his face open to an attack, so as quick as I could, I socked him one right in the eye.

"What the fuck is going on here!" to say that we froze at the sound of Wheeton voice swearing across the Gym is actually pretty truthful because both Josh's and my next punches hung limply in thin air, never to meet their original aim marks.

"This is supposed to be a make-up gym class for those of you who had that college thing this morning, not some boxing match? What the fuck is this, _Fight Club_?"

I tried not gag at the roughness that Wheeton grabbed my collar by, but it was hard since he was basically dragging us by the scruff of our PE shirt collars all the way to Gupta office, where she stood staring at us for a full minute in disbelief.

She spent the whole meeting just staring at us as if she couldn't quite believe her eyes as to whom were sitting in front of her desk, bloody and bruised, also wheezy for breath. The fight had taken a lot out of both of us.

"I guess neither of you are going to tell me what this was all about?" Gupta asked as she handed us letters to give to our parents and after she had assigned out our punishment.

Mine actually isn't too bad; one days suspension (tomorrow) and fixing all the broken computers, both staff and student before and after school for a month. I think there are laws against this sort of thing, but hey beats being stuck in a classroom doing nothing or worse writing repetitive lines over and over again, like Josh is going to be suffering with for a month. That is after his three day suspension (I get one he gets three; don't even ask me how they worked that one out, maybe Gupta is really desperate to start me working on the school computers.).

Heh, give me a broken down server any old day.

Anyway, neither of us said anything and Gupta just looked at us all disappointed like and said she was deeply disappointed in both of us and that we should know by now that violence does not solve our problems and that we are suppose to be setting an example for the younger students and blah, blah, blah.

She just kept going on and on.

I felt like I was going insane at the repetitiveness of her preaching, but I can understand why no one mucks up again for awhile after being sent to her office. Who wouldn't behave if misbehaving meant you had to sit through this!

Anyway, it was just about time for school to finish when Gupta finally ran short of breath and she allowed me to leave.

Only me, I guess she thought that the moment Josh and I left this room, if we were left together, we start our punch up again in administrations and we couldn't have that now, could we?

"Michael?" I looked around back at Gupta wondering what now.

"Yes?" though it came out more as an "Gyes?" due to the vice grip I had on my bloody, broken nose.

"Please clean yourself up before you leave the school grounds." I fought the desire to roll my eyes. But I got her point.

Out of the two of us, Josh and me, I was the more bloodied up one, not to say he didn't look pretty roughed up too, what with his already spectacular black eye and the impressive bruise formation forming across his cheek bone.

I stagged a little out of her office, keeping my head slightly down so that any teachers or early-markers wouldn't stop me when they saw my bloody face and shirt.

I really was a mess; I discovered when I finally saw my reflection in the boy's change room. My whole face was just covered with blood.

Gee, Gupta nice to know you care about your students, just let us bleed everywhere, why don'tcha? I washed my face and hung my head over the sink as blood continued to flow out of my nose. I must have used up half of Gupta's tissues while she was ranting on and on about how disgraceful both Josh and I were.

Once I was fairly sure my nose had dried up enough with old blood so as stop any new blood from flowing out, I yanked off my bloodied Gym shirt and changed back into my school uniform.

I almost looked half decent when I finally came out of the change room, just as the bell signalling the end of the day went off, except that my nose had decided to start bleeding all over again.

I clutched it tightly as I one handed dragged nearing the entire contents of my locker into my school bag, ignoring the curious looks sent my way.

I easily found Lil, Mia (and Lars) by Mia's locker, all of whom looked at me with slightly open mouths.

"What happen to you?" Lilly asked looking torn between being impressed and disapproving of my current state.

"I think someone was in a fight." Lars said. This caused Lil to look even more impressed and Mia to gasp as she squeaked, "Are you ok."

I tried to shrug nonchalantly, but it hurt too much causing me to wince.

"I'd take that as a no." Lars said but he didn't sound disapproving, in fact he actually looked like he approved of my fighting.

"He can't go home like that." Mia was panicking.

"I'm fine. Really." I tried to smile but found that that hurt too.

"No you're not. Don't lie. Come on, you can come with us in the limo." She took hold of my arm and started dragging me for the school front doors.

"Ah, no, you don't have to do that." I said, sounding completely lame and causing both Lil and Lars to roll their eyes at me.

"Just come on." She said and I let her drag me for her limo, pushing me gently inside once we reached it.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, looking up at me worriedly.

"Yeah a bit. Actually it's more numb than anything else."

"Adrenaline. It's still pumping itself around your body. When it stops, then everything will hurt." Lars informed me.

"Wonderful." I sighed.

"So who did it?" Lil asked.

"Huh?"

"Who beat you up?" I felt more than a little annoyed at that.

"I wasn't beaten up by anyone, _I_ beat up Josh Richter!" Mia looked at me somewhat bug-eyed while Lil, she just laughed.

"You," she giggled, "beat up Josh Richter? No way."

"Yes way," I growled, "ok, so it was more of a tie, but I gave him a spectacular black eye and some pretty impressive bruise pattern along his jaw line."

"And he broke your nose." Lil snorted, "And bruised your jaw too. Hehehe, you are going be in so much trouble when we get home."

Yeah, I knew that, but heck, it was worth it. Plus Mia fussing over me the whole way over to mine was fantastic, almost as good as the dance.

Reaching mine was a completely different story. Not that the parental unit was exactly mad at me for the fight… ok, they were, but oddly enough I wasn't grounded (Much to Lil's great disappointment).

I did have to sit through three hours of being psychoanalysed, which trust me is punishment enough, but surprising that was it. They didn't even look vaguely disappointed in me, just told me that violence was no way of solving ones problems, then they let me go to my room and lie down (with an ice pack, my nose and jaw were seriously taking to kill now.) and left me alone while dinner was getting ready, not that I actually felt like any, what with my jaw ache but still it was way worth it.

There was a knock on my door and after a moment my Dad came in.

Out of my two parents, and I know your not suppose to have a favourite parent, just like a parents isn't suppose to have a favourite child, but Dad has to be my favourite of the two of them. He's not quite as pushy for information as Mom is and he's way more laid back about most things that mom isn't.

"Hi." He said as he came to sit in my computer chair.

"Hey." Though it came out more as "a" because of my nose being so blocked up with dried blood, oh and happen to be broken.

Dad shook his head as he said, "Wow, you're first real fight. Personally I never thought I would see the day." I looked over at him with vague interest. I mean just half an hour ago he (and Mom) were both singing the tune that fighting is wrong, violence doesn't sound anything, but now he actually sounded… pleased, that I had been in a fight.

"Josh Richter must have done something pretty bad for you to blow up at him like that." he continued.

I rolled my eyes, so he was just here to pump me for information.

"It doesn't really matter." I said feeling exasperated as I stared hard up at my boring ceiling. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dad chewing on the inside of his mouth, as if trying to keep himself from smiling or something.

"It was about Mia, wasn't it?" I felt like gagging. Why does everyone keep jumping to the conclusion that my main motivation for doing out of character things is Mia!

"What makes you think that?" I asked trying to sound calm and causal.

"Oh, only the fact that you've had a crush on her for the last eight months or so," Dad said in as calm and causal voice as I had just used.

I felt like gagging as I stared of at him in disbelief.

"How did you…" I trailed off weakly.

"Know?"He laughed, "It seems to be a male Moscovitz trait to fall in love with their younger siblings' best friend." He shook his head in amusement as I just stared at him in disbelief, though I had vague recollection of some family gathering where it was stated that Mom and my Aunt (Dad's younger sister) were the best of friends in college.

"You and Mom?" he nodded.

"And most of your uncles and your grandfather and I think his father too. As I said it seems to be a family trait that is past down through the Moscovitz men. Though at times it feels like a curse, doesn't it?" he looked at me with a knowing look.

I rolled my head to stare dully back at my ceiling. Great, well at least now I could blame this thing on my genetics. It's all their fault for my crush on Mia!

"You have no idea." I sighed.

"Well, I do actually because I was in the same situation as you are with your Mom."

"Yeah, but there is only a year between you two. There's three years between Mia and me." I pointed out grouchily.

"Details," Dad said with a wave of his hand. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"About what?"

"About Mia?"

"Um…" I trailed off weakly.

"You really have no idea, do you?" Dad said laughing.

I scowled over at him.

"Not helping."

"Right, sorry. I'm just remembering how I was when I was trying to ask your Mom out."

"How long did it take you? To ask her out, I mean?" I asked curiously.

"Two years." I groaned, "Actually I was finishing Uni before I actually built up the guts to ask her. Yeah, having a great deal of trouble asking a girl out is also a Moscovitz trait." I groaned again, reaching behind my head for my pillow and slamming it on top of my face.

"Hey, I still got her in the end, didn't I? As did all my brothers and my dad, your grandfather and his father. You just have to work at it and not give up. And in the end you'll get the girl."

I lifted my pillow off my head and looked at him. "Seriously?"

"I haven't met a Moscovitz man who hasn't yet." Dad reassured me.

"Seriously?" I said again as I sat up slowly, "In the end we get the girl?"

"If we're serious and we don't give up, yeah, we do."

"Ok."

"Not that I'm saying that I want you two to go get married next week, though." I gagged at him.

"I just want to ask her out!" I yelped. "Not to marry me!"

"Well, you had better watch that because we usually end up doing that too."

"Seriously?"

"Yup. We're not big daters, if you hadn't noticed already. We see the girl that we like and that's about it, the end of us, we're wrapped around her little finger, doing everything in our power to keep her happy and smiling. And getting her to marry us too, of course."

"So to sum all that up, we're suckers." I simplified with a groan.

"To our soul mates, yeah."

"You believe in soul mates?" I asked surprised. My dad has always been about logic and reason, so hearing him refer to a term like 'soul mates' was more than a little out of character for him.

"Yup."

"And you think Mia is mine?" I asked feeling a little overwhelmed.

"Well," Dad said, looking up at my ceiling, "that's really up to you now isn't it? But yeah, I think it's a pretty likely chance that she is. I mean, the way she used to follow you around was rather cute." He teased.

"She was eight!"

"Yeah, and you doted upon her. She had you wrapped around her little finger the moment she walked through our front door and said she liked Star Wars."

"Star Wars is cool." I defended before sighing. "So what should I do?"

"Well, firstly stop acting like a jerk whenever she's around." I opened my mouth to argue but fell silent because I knew he was right, "it's not going to help you at all and will just end up pushing her away."

"So what should I do?" I repeated.

Dad smiled at me and ruffled my hair.

"Just be there for her to begin with. You know, she's going to have it real tough from now on, what with the whole princess thing. Be the best of friends with her, listen to her when she's down, give advise, make her smile, show her that you care about her, not the princess part of her, though be understanding of that too, but that you care about just her, who she is, how she is. Make her feel loved for being just Mia Thermopolis."

"Ok." I said, "I can do that. I'm tutoring her."

"That's a good start. And you two can defiantly talk to each other; you don't seem to get tongue-tied with each other or anything." He started grinning. "I remember times when Lilly wasn't around and you two would just start talking away. We never seem to be able to shut the pair of you up once you got started." He chuckled as I scowled at him.

"Weren't that bad…" I defended but saw that Dad was silently laughing.

"You weren't seeing you two from an outsider's point of view, trust me, once you two start yabbering away at each other, I swear, even if the world was ending you two would still be talking."

"It's not bad to talk." I gruimbled.

"No, it's actually a real good thing." Dad said turning serious once more, "Just don't forget to, ok? Always make sure you talk everything out, even the more embarrassing things when you two start going out." I felt my cheeks begin to grow hot, knowing exactly what he was implying to, but forced myself to nod.

"Ok."

"You'll be fine. Trust me; she is very fond of you."

"But what if I've messed it up? Already! What with my jerkiness towards her?"

"I don't think you have." Dad reassured, "I'm pretty sure she didn't take too much offense from it, plus you two seemed to be pretty cosy on Saturday night after the dance, so I don't think you have nothing much to worry about. Though," he gave me an amused look, "you might want to tone down your response as to when people insult her. You can't hit everyone and get away with it as lightly as you did today."

"I know." I said sighing, then I grinned, "But it was fun. And I mean, it's ok every once in awhile right? When that person really, really deserves to be turned into a Cream of Wheat."

Dad laughed and nodding as he ruffled my hair again as he got up to leave.

"Dad." I said just before left. "Thanks." He smiled and left my room, closing the door behind him.

Ok, yeah, I'm suspended… for a day (but still, that might hurt my chances of getting the Library collected works of Issac Asimov) and I have to fix the school computers both staff and student for the next mouth, but overall, I feel pretty good.

I mean, I'll feel even better when I am finally able to tell Mia my true feelings for her, but for the moment, everything seems to pretty good with the world. Josh isn't likely to come anywhere near her (Or me most likely) anytime soon and hopefully any other potential vultures have been scared off for the moment.

Though, I am kind of curious as to know what had Mia so freaked out today. I mean, the last time I saw her look this worried was when she was keeping the whole princess thing a secret…

Why do I have a feeling that this is going to be the next big news in the already huge news of New Yorks own Princess Story?

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

_**The END**_

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> So that's that. Well for book one at least. Thank you to all of you who read and enjoyed my fanfic. A special thank you to all of you who took the extra time to write a comment, they meant the world to me, thank you so much.  
>I should start uploading the first couple of chapters for CracKing: The Second Round soon, so keep an eye out.<br>Once again thank you to all of you for reading this and comments are deeply appreciated.  
>Bye for now!<p> 


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